The Fire Theft, Hot Hot Heat, Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Fiction Plane, the Jealous Sound

Nothing to do Wednesday night? Patient enough for a post-punk marathon that'll likely stretch into early Thursday? Then eat dinner early and head to Trees for a five-band bill with more to offer than most. California's the Jealous Sound kicks things off, touring in advance of a new album it recorded with big-shot indie-rock producer Tim O'Heir and with a new drummer in Adam Wade, who used to play with Jawbox and Shudder to Think. New MCA signees Fiction Plane are up next; Everything Will Never Be OK, the band's debut (which was helmed by big-shot pop-rock producer David Kahne), offers lean, radio-ready songs about feelings, some of which haven't been slickened to death. (The songs, that is.) Then the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster plays; I keep mixing them up with the Electric Six, who have that great song about the fire in the disco that Jack White sings on. Next, one of the two bands you paid to see: Canada's art-punk phenoms Hot Hot Heat, still riding high on Make Up the Breakdown, the knockout album Sub Pop released last October and Warner Bros. just picked up for wider distribution and posters with more colors. On the phone a few weeks ago, singer Steve Bays told me they were amped to be working on recording new material with all that filthy multinational cash; hopefully this will turn out to be a good thing. And finally, the Fire Theft, which, as if you didn't know, is three-quarters of Sunny Day Real Estate, plus Billy Dolan of 5ive Style. Early MP3s posted on the band's Web site indicate that singer Jeremy Enigk hasn't lost his voice--crucial for any outfit the dude decides to front. A spokesperson said last week that the band, which is currently without a label, is still at work on its first album. So you gotta hold your breath just a little longer.