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Buy the Epoxies' self-titled 2002 debut album.

The Epoxies get stuck on new New Wave. Valley Rock The Epoxies brought their New Wave droid-pop to the bold new Blank Club last Thursday By Sarah Quelland SOME WEIRD cosmic collision brought Portland, circa now, and the San Fernando Valley, circa 1983, to meet in San Jose last Thursday (March 13) at the Blank Club. The atmosphere was pure Pacific Northwestern seaboard, with dampness drizzling in the air, but the soundtrack was pure Valley Girl. It wasn't hard to imagine a young Nicolas Cage slouching in to check out Portland's Epoxies rocking out at the Blank. The Blank Club just opened at the former home of Fuel and Plant 51, and the new space has a brash punk-rock attitude and an underground vibe. On Thursday, following performances by the Eddie Haskells and the Phenomenauts, the Epoxies helped christen the stage by playing one of the first big rock shows at the new San Jose club. The Epoxies' space-age, synth-driven New Wave pop punk combined with frontwoman Roxy Epoxy's alternately sharp and hiccupy vocals may be an acquired taste, but the Epoxies sell their early-'80s sound with a vibrant stage show complete with a droid-pop image and stilted robotic moves. Songs from the band's self-titled debut (on Dirtnap Records, home to the Briefs, the Cripples and other cool bands) would have instantly gelled on the radio 20 years ago. Even better, the Epoxies have the 20/20 gift of hindsight and only draw from the best of the effervescent genre. From opening track "Need More Time" to end track "Please Please," the album plays like a treasure that got lost in the vaults back in the '80s. Visit www.theepoxies.com. GET UP, STAND UP: We've got our own Saturday Night Live right here under our noses taping every Thursday at 9pm in the KRON Channel 4 Studios inside the Knight-Ridder Building. It's called Stand-UP, It's Thursday NIte! and features house band Heather Courtney and the Thursday NIte Band, regional guest bands, guest standup comedians and sketch comedy by the SUTN players. Thursday's tapings are aired a week later on Friday night/Saturday morning at 1:30am on KRON. Being part of the live studio audience and catching the whole thing firsthand is an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. Tickets to the show are $10. The updated schedule of guests for the March 20 taping was unavailable at deadline, but should include both a standup comedian and a live band. Visit www.sutnnetwork.com or www.biglils.com for more info. BLUE FRIDAY: The Great Guitar Extravaganza 2003 hits JJ's Blues Friday (March 21). Hosted by René Solis and the Persuaders, this year's event highlights seasoned blues vets and up-and-coming local blues talent and features Laura Chavez, Jr. Deville, John Garcia, Jeramy Norris, and John Wedemeyer. HOT TOPIC: Mix 106.5 brings Erasure to town for a special engagement Saturday (March 22) at the Edge in Palo Alto. Listen to win tickets. ... Rumor has it Sum 41 will be playing a special date at Santa Clara University in mid-April around the time of its April 19 show at the Warfield in San Francisco. Stay tuned. ... Trapt returns to the Bay Area for two shows. The Los Gatos export plays Slim's in San Francisco on March 27 and closer to home at the Edge on April 2. The Edge also just confirmed a date with Bad Religion and Sparta on April 7. ... Halford, Testament, Death Angel, Vio-Lence, Exhumed, Cattle Decapitation and Impaled invade San Francisco's Regency Center Saturday (March 29) as part of the Bay Area Thrash Festival. PLAN AHEAD: Big D and the Kids Table, the Matches, Giving Jane the Time, Audrye Sessions and the Fratellies, March 20 at the Los Gatos Outhouse; Lynch Mob, March 20 at the Edge in Palo Alto; Under a Dying Sun, Communique, Short Round and Maida, March 21 at the Outhouse; the Sky Is a Wall, A Burning Water, For the Design and Maida, March 22 at Gaslighter's Music Hall in Gilroy; Trip Device and Divided, March 22 at Nightclub 155 in Sunnyvale; What Life Makes Us, Corpus Callosum, Plans for Revenge and Farewell to Youth, March 22 at the Mitchell Park Center in Palo Alto; Tenfold, Something Must Die, Forgive the Day and Kaddisfly, March 23 at Gaslighter's Music Hall; Trip Device, Mercury Sound, Rubber Side Down and DJ Da Hermit, March 24 at Waves Smokehouse & Saloon. Send a letter to the editor about this story to letters@metronews.com. [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]