Collectively, a city sluggishly heads back to to its desk. Welcome to the working week. Your weekend is over, hopefully it was perfectly fun. (Well, unless you watched the Cowboys game.) But there is plenty more to be had by seeing live music. As per usual, a few great shows are plucked in here and there this week. Washed Out is here to supply a steady and completely chill groove at the Granada Theater and Isaiah Rashad is headlining a top-notch hip-hop bill at Trees.
Washed Out With Small Black, 7 p.m, Monday, September 8, at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., 214-824-9933 or granadatheater.com, $27/$29 at the door Last year, Ernest Greene, the soundscape architect behind Washed Out, seemed to have slipped away from the safety of his band's minimalistic chillwave tether. On sophomore relase, Paracosm, he attempted to explore untested waters, pursuing fantasy inspired textures and intricate lyricism, although his work still retains the "dreamy" quality he's been clutching on to since his bedroom recording days. Nonetheless, despite that ever-present adjective, Washed Out can still put on performance of energetic value. Paired with Brooklyn's Small Black, this tour features two chillwave acts that more or less came into existence around the same time and both have grown at similar rates into something more substantial. After all, if there's anything chillwave has taught us it's that any artist can hide behind thin veil of grainy lo-fi production and '80s-inspired rhythms, but over time, the stage and maturity can't help but dissolve some of those conventions. What's more, some of us still just want an excuse to groove. Aaron Ortega
J Boog With Hot Rain and the Blue Twenty 2's, 8:00 pm, Tuesday, September 9, at Gas Monkey Bar & Grill, 10261 Technology Boulevard E., gasmonkeybarandgrill.com, $18-$40 In 2003 J Boog and his bandmates in B2k teamed up with Marques Houston to take on some crosstown rivals in a Los Angeles dance competition for $50000. This was a seminal moment in dance competitions: many a sucker was served in the chaos of it all and J Boog and friends prevailed in the end, presumably saving the community center in their neighborhood. Sadly, shortly after B2k would break up due to differences, and J Boog would morph into a Samoan singer who rapped/sung about island life and weed. Boog makes shiny happy music for shiny happy weed enthusiasts, and that's not a bad thing. Dude knows his lane, and stays in it. Jaime-Paul Falcon
Delta Spirit With EDJ, 8 p.m., Wednesday, September 10, at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., 214-824-9933 or granadatheater.com, $24 After being pigeonholed as an Americana act, the members of Delta Spirit decided to expand their musical horizons and released an incredible self-titled effort in 2012 that redefined the band. Those rootsy influences were still there, but the new and improved sonic palette included several modern rock flourishes that were perfectly integrated. Into the Wide, the band's upcoming effort, has to be one of the most-anticipated albums of 2015. Darryl Smyers
Isaiah Rashad With the Outfit TX, Blue the Misfit and Buffalo Black, 7 p.m., Thursday, September 11, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $3 In 2013, L.A.-based indie label Top Dawg Entertainment found a new wave of Southern trill in their newest affiliate, Isaiah Rashad. Deep from the heart of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the 22-year old rapper fertilized the hip-hop sector with his fusion of struggle, strength and down-south sensibilities. After making his official debut with the TDE faction at the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Cypher, he followed up with the release of his 14-track project Cilvia Demo, titled after his 1995 Honda Civic. Culling influences from big-name artists like Master P, Erykah Badu, Outkast, and Lil Wayne, Rashad transcends the artificial absurdity and transitory vices that sometimes plague hip hop. His lyrical dexterity packs themes of introspection, frustrations and oppression into poetic melodies, all equipped with a good ol' Southern zing. As the September installment of the Red Bull Sound Select series, the show - which features trill local talents the Outfit TX, Blue the Misfit and Buffalo Black - costs an absurdly cheap $3 (with an RSVP). There may not be a hip-hop show with better bang for the buck all fall. Morganne Cameron
Joey Fatts With the Ashton Matthews, Young Street MSE, Rhythm the M3, Emkea IBE, #GCF, 8 p.m., Thursday, September 11, at Prophet Bar, 2513 Main St, 214-742-3667or http://theprophetbar.com/, $15/ $20 at the door Instead of clicking that Upworthy link, you can go and see a manifestation of a feel good story in Joey Fatts. The rapper was once homeless, gang banging (he started at seven) and living out of his car. His aspirations of rapping led him to make his own beats, which eventually landed him a production spot on A$AP Rocky's debut album, Long. Live. A$AP. As a double threat, Joey Fatts is something like an early Kanye West, but with a crisp paisley blue flag tucked in his back jean pocket. H. Drew Blackburn
Kings of Leon With Young the Giant and Kongos, 7 p.m. Friday, September 12, at Gexa Energy Pavilion, 1818 1st Ave., 214-421-1111 or http://livenation.com/livenation.com. $49-$69 Eleven years ago a record was released by a bunch of relatives from Tennessee that sent the critics into a tizzy as they jumped all over themselves to write the phrase "Southern fried" and hail the record as a clear announcement that "rock was back!" That record was Holy Roller Novocaine, and if Kings of Leon had called it quits after that album we'd be seeing think pieces all over the internet by 30-something rock critics about the best band that almost was. Instead, after toying with their sound on their first two full-lengths Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak, the group cut their hair off, softened their look and their sound and became the commercial juggernaut that gave the world "Sex on Fire." Listening to "Holy Roller Novocaine" alongside "Sex on Fire," it's hard to believe it's the same band; the group that almost gave NME a collective heart attack is now the band who is a punchline for bad music for bad sex. Music is weird. JPF
The Black Lips 7 p.m. Saturday, September 13, at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave, granadatheater.com, $22 Atlanta punk four-piece the Black Lips is coming through town and it's said they've got a post-work week, smoke soaked, salt-greasy catharsis steady in tow. Under normal circumstances, you could expect some wild antics from the Georgia bad boys. Given those particulars, who knows what will happen. (Let's just hope no one gets the golden shower.) The Black Lips have been raising their army of pee-thirsty, body-knocking fans since the release of their debut album, Black Lips!, in 2003. This year they put out their newest offering Underneath the Rainbow, which at least in Black Lips parlance, resembles some sort of growing maturity - but we'll see how that translates live. If you're lucky, you might end up as sloppy as the band. Just think about leavin the heels at home if you don't want to be charged with involuntary manslaughter. It's bound to be a night of unabashed rock, roll, and good-bad-not-evil decisions. Dalton Kane
