Callum Robbins Benefit at BCHQ on Saturday

Fin Fang Foom: "In Harm's Way" (from With the Gift Comes the Curse 2005. Buy/download)
Red Collar: "Used Guitars" (from The Hands Up EP 2007. Buy/download)
Caltrop: "Dr. Motherfucker" (from Caltrop 2006. Buy)

There's a couple of good causes you can support by attending this show tomorrow night. First of all, you can help a cool fledgling performance space in Durham, Bull City HQ, get off the ground. It's great to see a grass-roots place like this spring up, and I certainly hope they can make a go of it. (Especially in light of this fascinating discussion and the closure of a couple of fine venues in Raleigh lately.) They could use a good turnout.

This show in particular is a benefit for Callum Robbins, the fifteen-month-old son of "DC punk rock icon, J. Robbins", who was has a brutal disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. I don't really know Robbins' work in bands like Gvmt Issue, Jawbox, and Channels, but I have kids, and thus huge sympathy for parents dealing with such a serious -- and expensive -- problem. This show is part of a much wider effort to help support Callum, and you can certainly make a direct donation, but seeing this show would be a great way to kick in as well.

So, the music: I've said my piece about Red Collar before. They are great -- don't miss their tour blog for some interesting thoughts about the SXSW experience. I don't know the other bands well at all, but Fin Fang Foom (MySpace/ReverbNation) seems to do some interesting, moody post-punk/math rock stuff. I think the title of their 2001 release Texture, Structure, and the Conditions of Mood is pretty evocative, though the little that I've heard of their later work sounds a little less raucous and thus (to me) a bit more interesting. I'll have to investigate further. Caltrop puts out some complex metallic rock that's more interested in being heavy than being fast. Red Collar's probably the odd man out here -- they are far more straight-ahead rock than the other two -- but there's definitely some interesting music on tap. Suggested donation $5; starts at 8; 723 N. Mangum, Durham.