Last Night: Jenny Lewis, Beachwood Sparks, Pierre de Reeder at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, Oct. 30, 2008.

Better Than: Staying home and watching the season premiere of "30 Rock." Which isn't a dis of "30 Rock," because that show is fantastic, it's a testament to how great this show was. (Plus, real fans watched the seaprem on Hulu days ago.)

Download: "Pull Me In Tighter," a non-album track from Rilo Kiley that sounds a lot like a precursor to Jenny Lewis solo work.

People like Jenny Lewis. Like, really like her. Maybe a little too much, actually.

Several times during her show Thursday night, perfectly lovely, serene moments where her strong yet sweet voice filled the over 80-year-old theater with a thoughtful calm on songs like opener "Rabbit Fur Coat" were nearly ruined by some jerk yelling inane comments like "Marry me Jenny!" and "female Bob Dylan!" (Because she was wearing a hat and playing an acoustic guitar, you see.) Stalker-esque passion was shown by "fans" blurting out words like "I still love you, Jenny, even though you totally dissed me for a picture one time," which sounds like it came straight from that Eminem song "Stan."

But between her work fronting Rilo Kiley, two excellent solo albums (2006's Rabbit Fur Coat and Acid Tongue, released last month), and, OK, the fact that she is pretty darn adorable, what's not to like?

Every week, more shows from old punk bands are announced. It's uncanny.

NOFX, Feb. 19 at the Grove of Anaheim
On sale: Noon Friday, Oct. 31 ($20)
Veteran punk band fronted by the irascible Fat Mike, owner of Fat Wreck Chords. He also founded the Rock Against Bush effort in 2004, so he must be pretty psyched to see his dream come true four years later due to term limits!

Bad Brains, Dec. 8 at the House of Blues, Anaheim
On sale: 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1 ($25)
Hardcore punk legends who released a new studio album, "Build a Nation," last year. Inspired future blends of hard rock and reggae like 311. Hey, no one's perfect.

Mest, Jan. 23 at the House of Blues, Anaheim
On sale: 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1 ($15)
Mest has been through a lot in the last couple years. Breaking up, getting back together, their lead singer fatally stabbed a guy (it was self-defense!). They're back together for the "One Night Stand" tour and working on new material.

Lucha Vavoom, Jan. 30 at the Grove of Anaheim
On sale: Noon Friday, Oct. 31 ($50-$75)
Lucha libre AND burlesque show? Can I go to this now?

Appetite for Destruction/Back in Black, Dec. 18 at the House of Blues, Anaheim
On sale: Noon Friday, Oct. 31 ($12.50)
Two cover bands; apparently part of the "House of Blues Tribute Series Tour." Hmm, I wonder what bands they're in tribute to. It's a real stumper.

By Chris Ziegler

After five years in downtown Long Beach, storied all-ages venue Koo’s is officially returning to Santa Ana and a new home at the historic Yost Theater, where a no-longer non-profit Koo’s, Inc., will begin programming in January.

“We’re done in Long Beach,” says Koo’s founder Dennis Lluy today, shortly before he’ll begin hauling equipment and furniture out of the 530 E. Broadway space he’s due to vacate this weekend. “We had a five-year run and we took it as far as we felt we could take it. I feel we were unsuccessful seeking partners. But I don’t blame anyone but me—so we’re moving on.”

H-ween's almost here, dudes. If you're wondering where you and your Don Draper, Sarah Palin or Sexy Jailed Ted Stevens costume should show up to, here are some ideas on what to do this Friday. Or should I say what to BOO! Ahahaha. Right.

I think we can all agree that Hollywood is a city tailor-made for Halloween.

Whether it's a colorful trail of costumed kooks, boisterous exhibitionists or creepy street performers hawking their side show talents, nights in the underbelly of "Tinsel Town" can be scary. So can anyone imagine what some of these people do when Halloween actually comes around? The answer:Bondage Ball.

This ain't your grandma's Halloween party (and if it is, pray to God you never find out about it).

As part of a three-night foray into the wide world of whips and chains, L.A. erotic retailer The Pleasure Chest will transform The Echoplex into a haven for extremely sexual Halloween fun. From 9p.m.- 2 a.m., indulge your darkest fantasies in any of the three "fully equipped play zones", or catch leather clad exhibitions and fashion shows on the main stage. And if that's not enough, it's probably the only party in town where the VIP lounge comes with dungeon furniture.

Deerhunter
Microcastle
(Kranky)

Bradford Cox’s oversized persona threatens to overwhelm almost anything his band Deerhunter does. In concert, the singer/songwriter—who has Marfan Syndrome and is shockingly thin—often makes things bloody and uncomfortable. On his group’s blog, he battles music pirates and his own demons. But fans are wise to ignore the hype; almost two years after releasing the masterful Cryptograms, Deerhunter’s new Microcastle is equally stunning despite sounding almost completely different. Largely eschewing effect pedals and moving away from the dreamy, endless soundscapes that informed their earlier work, Microcastle features clean guitars and a poppy disposition.

The album’s tightly-coiled title track lurks quietly for a solid two and a half minutes before the drums kick in and it turns into a classic rock-style banger. “Nothing Ever Happened” maintains the rockin’ and rollin’ mentality, and the work as a whole should be immediately accessible for most listeners. There are still moments that feel like Dan Deacon DJ sets, but for the most part the songs are simpler and more focused. Call Microcastle the equivalent of Metallica’s Black Album. Though Deerhunter has risked alienating some of their core fans, most others will prefer this incarnation.

Look, I don't think it's too much to ask for an album called "Dog Tracks: Songs By Dogs" to feature, I dunno—songs by dogs?

I was incredibly excited when the album came in the mail today. Who could blame me? Dogs are cool, I like music. It seems like a winning proposition. So imagine my horror when I popped the CD in and realized that is, in fact, a wholesale farce. The songs are actually by humans. Yeah, WTF, right? There are already plenty of albums by humans, a.k.a every other album in the entirety of existence. Shamelessly, the accompanying press release clearly admits the grotesque deception.

"While the songs were inspired by dogs, they are performed by top professional musicians in American Roots style using country, blues, light jazz and other popular genres."

I'm sorry, but isn't the idea of humans writing songs from a dog perspective, aside from being awful presumptuous, a bit, well, weird? When Iggy Pop said "I Wanna Be Your Dog," he didn't mean it literally. Sure, there's some charm to be derived from lyrics, like "Purebreds you think you're special, your noises in the air" (social commentary? probably not), but mainly the whole thing just gives me the wiggins.

And it's not like the concept of actual canines performing music is a foreign one. Brooklyn extreme metal band Caninus is fronted by not one but two dogs, pit bull terriers Budgie and Basil. They've also worked with Richard Christy, formerly a drummer for Iced Earth and Death and currently a staff member of "The Howard Stern Show." Christy once licked his co-worker's balls, and that's kind of like something a dog would do.

Last Night: The Kooks and The Whigs at the House of Blues in Anaheim, Oct. 27, 2008.

Better Than: Joining the fledgling Modern Whig Party. William Henry Harrison, they ain't!

Download: This Kooks cover of "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John from early this year.

I'm not an eavesdropper in general, but sometimes, y'know, you just can't help it. Like when you overhear something like this, from one of the many enthralled young teenage fans leaving The Kooks concert at the House of Blues in Anaheim Monday night.

"If he had AIDS, I wouldn't care," a clearly misguided young female said of (presumably) her answer to a theoretical offer of a sexual encounter with undeniably dreamy Kooks lead singer Luke Pritchard. "As long as he sang to me, it would be OK." Pretty spicy talk for just a few yards away from a Build-A-Bear Workshop, and the type of heartfelt (albeit creepy) praise that Leif Garrett and David Cassidy never got a chance to receive.

All October, Orange County's Brookline - hailing from Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa - have generously played free shows at Detroit Bar every Monday. Being that today is the last Monday in October, that for sure makes tonight your last chance to see them there for freesies.

The band has had some solid opening acts, including the scintillating The Happy Hollows. Tonight's openers, LA's Warpaint, who Chris Ziegler wrote about in the latest Weekly. A perfect alternative for those bummed they couldn't make it to tonight's sold out Kooks/Whigs show at the House of Blues.

Long Beach's Crystal Antlers, who this year already netted an 8.5 on Pitchfork for their self-released EP (which was subsequently sntached up by Touch and Go) and just last night played the Bowery Ballroom in NYC as part of the CMJ Music Marathon, saw their good buzz streak continue with a mention in national mag Entertainment Weekly's music section this week (the issue currently on stands with the cast of the more boring than ever "Heroes" on the cover).

Getting in EW is an accomplishment in itself for a band these days; the music section is typically about three pages an issue that usually just amounts to a handful of record reviews (the new Toby Keith gets a B+!) and a chart. But the pub here, like pretty much everything written about the band, was positive - a quickie one-sentence review in a mini-article/illustration about the current ponderance of indie rock bands with the word "crystal" in their name (also mentioned: Crystal Stilts, Crystal Castles). "Epic psych-rock chaos, excellent for cathartic scream-offs and dashboard air drums during dull commutes," say EW.

Crystal Antlers are currently on tour, wtih Austin, New Orleans, Phoenix and Athens, Georgia dates in their future. The Weekly has been singing their praises for a while, including Erin DeWitt's write-up in Locals Only back in April.