Buddha Gonzalez

New Jersey hamster-wheel-metallers the Shake Up will headline Churchill's this Friday, and now this tip for bands:

Remember the daydream you had last week about being in bed with ten chicks who dug your show at the Giganto Center last night? It's not going to come true if your MySpace gig schedule doesn't fucking jibe with your actual schedule. After a certain ruggedly handsome writer-hack alerted Churchill's manager Mike that the Shake Up's MySpace schedule had them in Orlando the same night, some unnecessary panic ensued, but in the end it's all good, because, as Mike puts it, the flavor of the evening's festivities is going to be alt-rock and not buzz-saw bombast in the main, so let's quickly go over two local bands who'll definitely, absolutely, madly be there: Buddha Gonzalez and Modernage.

The Biggie-size Gonzalez leads a comedic troupe of miscreants who favor the sounds of Parliament-Funkadelic's George Clinton and Red Hot Chili Peppers, often sticking a thumb in the postwave pie. Gonzalez and longtime buddy Jerome (from Coconut Grove Records) have been around the block many a time, having been managed by Mario Medias of Zep fame, while Gonzalez's previous act had its Big Booty Show album produced by KC and the Sunshine Band's Rick Finch.

Sounding like a cross between Muse and — they'll probably hate my guts for saying it — Hootie and the Blowfish, Modernage will be right at home Friday, returning to the site where they recorded their debut demo Modernage: Live at Churchill's as prep for their Receiver EP, available these days on cdbaby.com. The band's songwriting is obviously a painstaking process, gleaming with hooks you could hang a baleen whale off of and subtle arrangements that point to an advanced skew on alt-rock. — Eric W. Saeger