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Grass Widow has collected some accolades since releasing Internal Logic this spring, but the writeup that my music-geek circle’s talking about isn’t a rave. “Man, imagine being a lady,” goes the nonreview by Thomas Morton in the May issue of hipster-bro bible VICE. “Imagine having a sweet, high-pitched lady-voice and getting together with a couple of other women and some guitars and making your slightly different voices all sync up as tautly as your periods, then snuggling all up together in a big gorilla’s nest of blankets and pillows while something noninformative is playing on the TV. What a life.” What a douche. But even critics who aren’t into misogyny for irony’s sake seem incapable of comparing this San Francisco lady band to anything but other lady bands, one of music criticism’s more grating tics. Does Grass Widow sound like The Shangri-Las? Well, they harmonize. The Raincoats? Fine, they opened for them last year. I admit, I hear bands like Miaow (that warbling!) and Young Marble Giants in Grass Widow; I also hear Josef K and Wire (evidence A: “Outdoor Miner”). More to the point: Grass Widow’s songs are smart, spiky, pretty, and propulsive. Indie pop’s scrappy early era hasn’t had an update this gratifying in years, by anyone. Grass Widow performs with Priests and Mary Christ at 9 p.m. at Comet Ping Pong, 5037 Connecticut Ave. NW. $10. cometpingpong.com. (202) 364-0404. (Jonathan L. Fischer)
TALKS
This is a week of important conversations at Corcoran: In addition to Thursday’s community meeting about the beleaguered art gallery’s future, tonight brings a free panel about the unique challenges to making art in D.C. “In a city where so much attention is focused on the large-scale tourist attractions,” the panel posits, “what special challenges do local arts organizations and artists face?” Participants include Jayme McLellan from Civilian Art Projects, Lisa Gold from Washington Project for the Arts, Mariah Johnson of Porch Projects, Ryan Hill from the Hirshhorn, and moderator Sunny Widmann. “Local Faces: D.C.’s Local and National Art Scene” begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th St. NW. Free.
EAT THIS
Some of the country’s best pastry chefs will be serving their sweets with cocktails at a rooftop tasting tonight in support of Share Our Strength’s “No Kid Hungry” campaign. Among the esteemed chefs is Momofuku Milk Bar pastry chef Christina Tosi, who recently won a James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year. Sou’Wester’s Matthew Petersen and Co Co. Sala’s Santosh Tipur will also be on hand, along with chefs from San Francisco, New York, and Baltimore. Event begins at 7:30. Tickets are $125. Get more info and buy tickets here. 101 Constitution Rooftop, 101 Constitution Ave. NW. (Jessica Sidman)
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