Wading through the local concert calendar, I spotted an August 23 date in Tempe for seminal punk/hardcore group Gorilla Biscuits, who are reuniting for a monthlong tour of the United States. (Brooklyn Vegan has the dates.)

That got me thinking about Walter Schreifels, guitarist in Gorilla Biscuits and frontman of many projects, including the fabulous Quicksand, Rival Schools and, most recently, Walking Concert. So I hit up the MySpace page for Walter (yeah, we’re on a first-name basis). It appears he’s working on some acoustic-type solo material for something called the Arthur Lee EP. All I know about it is what I gleaned from his MySpace page, which is next to nothing.

Depressed Friends is a touching if not, well, depressing track – Schreifels coming to grips with how to console his down-and-out buddies. It’s a far cry from Biscuits/Quicksand/etc., but just as welcome.

Walter Schreifels | Depressed Friends

If I’ve discovered anything about myself in listening to so much music the past year, it’s that I can be impatient. I like hooks, I like beats. Get me in and get me out in four minutes. (OK, I’ll give you five or six minutes if your first name is Sufjan.)

So when I popped in Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House – probably in the car or something – it didn’t last but two songs. This has little to do with Grizzly Bear and more to do with my sometimes antsy nature. From the get-go, I could tell listening to Yellow House would not be a mindless activity. This requires physical and mental concentration. Restraint and patience.

Although I’m not entirely familiar with the “freak folk” scene, the band was mentioned in passing in the New York Times article about it, although the guys dispute the story’s description of them. I prefer the label from Gothamist, which described Grizzly Bear’s music as “bewilderock.”

More than any album I’ve come across this year, Yellow House tests my iPod trigger finger. When I feel the urge to flip songs, then I’m oddly compelled to keep listening. There is no traditional verse-chorus-verse safety net to fall into.

Again, this probably says more about my tendencies as a listener than Grizzly Bear as a band, because they’re good. Really, I need more albums like this. Or I need to actually listen to more albums like this. Each song takes awhile to wrap my head around. Plans, for example, offers everything I love in a song: horns, great drums, rhythm. But its scattered approach tends to confuse on first listen and then fall into line with each successive play, much like the album as a whole.

Yellow House comes out on Warp Records on Sept. 5. Sept. 4 The group is offering a free download of the single On a Neck, On a Spit at its Web site.

Grizzly Bear | Plans

Finally. Birdmonster and Division Day are making their way to our fine state, playing Modified on August 19. Only $6.

These two bands have been touring like mad with no Phoenix stops. Birdmonster has played Tucson a couple of times. So I’m pretty jazzed about this show. Six dollars? Six American dollars? Hel-lo! That’s a bargain. You can’t get out of Subway these days for less than $6.

Birdmonster | Balcony
Division Day | Hurricane

Related:
Birdmonster on WOXY.
Division Day video for Hurricane.

Are you wondering what other shows are coming to Arizona? I thought so:

• Friday: Built to Spill with Brett Netson and Sonorous at Marquee Theatre, Tempe.
• July 18: The Raconteurs with Kelley Stoltz, Marquee Theatre, Tempe.
• July 22: The Church with Rob Dickinson (!), Marquee Theatre, Tempe.
• July 28: Jurassic 5 with X-Clan, Marquee Theatre, Tempe.
• Aug. 2: Pete Yorn (acoustic), Martini Ranch, Scottsdale (ugh); Pollstar lists an in-store Yorn performance at Zia Records, though I’m not sure which store as there are about four in the Valley.
• Aug. 13: Final Fantasy with Bob Wiseman, Modified, Phoenix.
• Aug. 17: The Clientele, Rhythm Room, Phoenix.
• Sept. 2: Centro-Matic, Modified, Phoenix.
• Sept. 26: M. Ward, Clubhouse, Tempe.

With the release of debuts by Silversun Pickups (July 25) and Darker My Love (August 22), Dangerbird Records could have a very fruitful summer.

The similarities between the two bands are pretty evident; they both have updated takes on the shoegaze/psych-rock sound. To me, Darker My Love recalls a little Kyuss with driving melodies of British Invasion era (especially on Summer Is Here). The bio cites My Bloody Valentine, The Velvet Underground and The Dandy Warhols, so I may be way off. I only know what I hear.

Either way, I think a tour with Silversun and Darker sounds like a fine idea. That said, Darker My Love is playing in Phoenix at (sigh) Dodge Theatre on August 8 as openers for AFI. Nothing against AFI … Dodge is just a fairly sterile/impersonal venue.

Darker My Love | What’s a Man’s Paris
Darker My Love | Summer Is Here