Carrboro
M.O.P.
Cat’s CradleLearn all of the lyrics to Mash Out Posse’s (M.O.P.) entire Warriorz LP, rap along to it four times in a row, and I guarantee you won’t need to do your best strep-throat impression when you call in sick to work tomorrow. Indeed, by then, you’ll have had exhausted your voice entirely. Your boss won’t be able to tell the difference between an ill employee and someone who spent last night yelling out assault threats and alarming ad-libs. When the “Greatest Rap Duo of All Time” argument is visited, folks tend to exclude M.O.P. for suspects like Outkast, EPMD or Mobb Deep. And, while those guys are OK, they’re tame when compared to M.O.P.’s riot-inciting rap asperity. These two (Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame) actually made it cool and civil to scream “Kidnap that fool!” at the top of your lungs. Eric Tullis
Chapel Hill
Embarrassing Fruits, Soft Company, Kentucky Nightmare
NightlightIn a lot of ways, indie rock has always been a laissez-faire affair, and so it seems with this triple-bill of shuffling rock. Chapel Hill’s Embarrassing Fruits lifted heavy eyelids enough for its First Time EP to register as a delightful, nostalgic trip in Pavement-esque slacker rock. Its neighbors in Soft Company drop back again for a Phil Spector dreamscape led by Missy Thangs’ soulful voice, vaguely reminiscent of Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier. Bloomington, Ind.’s Kentucky Nightmare shocks its mid-tempo piano pop with enough guitar kinetics to maintain. The gig starts at 9:30 p.m. Bryan Reed