Elf Power and Man Man

Here's one to baffle the senses: the power-pop psychedelic stylings of Elf Power, the indie Summer Birds in the Cellar, and the carnival high jinks of Man Man all in downtown Miami ... for free? Don't give me lip for looking a gift horse in the mouth, but something of this caliber can't be entirely given away like that. Hell, maybe the price of beer will double. But who cares? There's enough musical whimsy in this lineup to give any eclectic listener a serious hard-on.

Hailing from Athens, Georgia, the town that begat R.E.M., Pylon, and the B-52's, comes Elf Power. The quartet forms a straightforward, power-pop juggernaut with enough folky and psychedelic underpinnings to endear it to anybody with taste, and most certainly to the casual listener. Philly's Man Man bandmates can act weird and take all the kitschy photographs they want, but when it comes to re-creating a somewhat cohesive Jodorowsky-inspired headfuck in the aural planes, they hit the nail on the head, sides, and bottom. Again: Who's paying for all of this goodness? Good music, weird shit on stage, crackheads on the sidewalk, and a tittie bar catty-corner from the entrance? This is either fuckery most foul, or some folks finally got their heads screwed on right.