Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Music

Dogbreth. "I want you to feel like you could rely on me if you need to" ... but I’m not sure if you can. This typifies the brutally honest, slightly neurotic voice of Dogbreth, a self-effacing indie combo from Phoenix and Seattle. Despite the lead singer’s openhearted rawness, the band is surprisingly well-produced and polished. Kindred to Fang Island, though by far less straight-ahead rocking, these kids were suckled on Belle and Sebastian's Tigermilk, reared on The Shins and came of age to Wayne Coin's quirked-up psych-pop earnestness. By calling themselves out on their own awkwardness, "head shaved, eating pizza at the Christown mall, waiting for you to call," Dogbreth is instantly endearing. That the fuzz guitars really soar and the bass really pounds make up for the wavery vocals, hell they highlight how authentic they really are. "Rock ’n’ roll won't make it all OK, but it used to seem that way.” Damn straight, and when we hear bands like this we remember why we felt that way. With Nice Try, Her Mana and CTV. Sunday, July 9
at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. $7. 7 p.m. 16 and up.

Satanik Goat Ritual. Rimshots pound your skull with relentless determination, a guitar pelts you with driving black rain and a vocalist terrifies, growling unholy utterances that keep popping up in an unseen speakers, like some Wackamole demon. The effect is disorienting, dark and appears utterly devoid of irony. This is Satanik Goat Ritual. Hailing from El Paso (fuck, yeah!), the band channels the violence of life lived debajo de la frontera. There’s no native language that will help you understand SGR's lyrics—they are utterly indescifrable— or universally understandable, depending on your perspective. In a "Prayer for Death," it’s like the deep vocal bark and repetitive hammer-fist downstrokes evoke thing you’re really ashamed of, sexual or otherwise. That’s power in song! This brutal combo channels real menace and conjures and harnesses that energy, and it’s primally unnerving. With Olden, Shadows of Algol, Bloodtrail and Xiuhcoatl on Saturday, July 8 at The Flycatcher, 340 E. 6th St. 9 p.m. $5. 21+.

decker. With the melodic sensibility of early Wallflowers, harnessing the jaunty chorale energy of the Polyphonic Spree, decker continuously bounces the listener like a baby on his knee and turns well-worn phrases over like quarters in his hands. He takes old-timey Americana orchestration to tackle modern topics like being a suburban "Patsy" ("Never better over there"), or the fact ODB will take his secrets "to the grave." His voice is a sincere blend of high nasal wine and perfect jazz control, a stellar combo and this music would be impeccable if it weren't for the irony. The production is perfect, stylized, craft-cocktail-hip, as are his pro YouTube vids. Perhaps he wants to be up-to-the-moment Jonathan Richmond (that’s be a real drag), but the music lapses into hipster clever-clever land too often. In the bluesy "Blackwash" he asks, "You want it real hot baby, how you feel it now?" I just want to feel something. And we’d much rather this mustached dude be real than hot. Ultimately his mastery over his music is his lorded mastery over us. As he strings together cliché after cliché, I wonder if he's just smirking inside, stringing listeners along too. With the mighty Carlos Arzate and The Kind Souls, Upsahl on Friday, July 7. Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. 8 p.m. 21+. Free.

Patsy's Rats. "Rock ’n’ roll friend/Come see me again?/I'm starting to miss you" is sung to the limits of earnest Patsy Gelb’s vocal range. A dude sorta harmonizes overtop for emphasis, and punchy glimpses of a "My Sharona"/“Pretty Vacant” guitar punctuates and soars. The whole thing’s sweetly nostalgic, like Holly and the Italians or early Cars. Her vocals can be coolishly indifferent-sounding like VU's Mo Tucker, so when Patsy invites her friend to join her in a big black car, who wouldn’t wanna get on in with her. The band hails from Portland, but Patsy's dad is Pennsylvania-via-Tucson hero Howe Gelb, and her mom co-wrote Belinda Carlisle’s giant killer hit “Mad About You.” So, yeah, pretty good genes. On "Hard Time Karen,” we say goodbye to the girl enough times to make this song a solid drinking game selection. It's bouncy but dark and captures the duality of pop and macabre that’d make Lou Reed or Ric Ocasek green with envy. See the Rats before they blow into full-on underground superstars. With The Resonars, Al Lover and Wooden Tooth Record DJs on Thursday July 6. Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. 7 p.m. Free.

Cinema

Whale Rider. Keeping the kids busy throughout the hot Tucson summers can be hectic and, frankly, expensive. Enjoy a couple of hours of free entertainment every month the Loft Jr., a monthly kids movie extravaganza featuring some pre-movie-fun with Mildred & Dildred. This month’s showing is Whale Rider a PG-13 film about a young woman from New Zealand who is challenging gender norms, standing up for herself and, yes, riding whales. The film features some light profanity, a reference to drug use and a childbirth scene, so it might not be suitable for the all children. 10 a.m. Saturday, July 8. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Free.

Cat Video Fest. Calling all Crazy Cat Ladies and Gentlemen: There’s a reason cat videos dominate the internet. Gather your fellow feline friendly pals and rejoice in this curated collection of 100 adorable, hilarious and fur-tastic cinematic masterpieces. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 8. Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 E. River Road. $8: a portion of all tickets will benefit the HOPE Animal Shelter.

Meatballs Part II. Mondo Mondays is headed to camp for the month of July! You might remember the delightful 1979 film Meatballs. This low budget, highly ridiculous sequel has little in common with the original but (fortunately?) does feature an alien named Meathead vacationing on Earth to learn about the culture, a military takeover and Paul Reubens as the camp bus driver. There’s a lot going on in this one. 8 p.m. Monday, July 10. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.$3.

Gardening

Organic and Sustainable Gardening Methods. You’ve probably heard that the world would be way better off if everyone rejected the traditional big, green front lawn thing and had a vegetable garden. In hot, dry Tucson it makes even less sense to fight for that ridiculous patch of grass, so do something with your land. Go beyond organic. Southwest Victory Gardens will be discussing the many ways that you can reduce your environmental impact by reducing or eliminating the need for common garden inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. 11 a.m. - Noon. Saturday, July 8. Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave. Free.

Performing Arts

Amped Up Open Mic at Club Congress. Enjoy new open mic experience at Hotel Congress: From music, stand up and spoken word, Tuesdays at Congress has it all. Better yet, put your name in the ring and perform on the same stage that so many of the greats have played on. Amped Up is in its infancy, and you should definitely be apart of the effort to make it bigger and better. Sign up to perform in person at 8:30 the night of and then practice your swagger before the show starts at 9 p.m. Bring your friends down and hang out with other awesome local artists, and help Congress get this event off the ground. 8:30 p.m.- midnight. Tuesday, July 11. Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Free.

Poetic Soul Tucson - The Ultimate Collaborative Arts & Culture Experience. Feel the need for a little rhythm and expression in your life? Poetic Soul Tucson hosts a night of, well, soulful entertainment every Thursday. Poets, spoken word artists, vocalists, lyricists, emcees, comedians, storytellers etc. of all experience levels are welcome to grace the stage. Whether backed by live instrumentation from our house band, or singing/speaking life ‘A Capella’, this is the platform if you desire to unwind and share your gifts in a supportive environment. 7 p.m.- 11 p.m. Thursday, July 6. 1901 S. 4th Ave. $10.

The Rouge Theatre: A House of Pomegranates. Culture yourself this summer with a theatric portrayal of a literary classic. Tucson's very own Rouge Theatre plays host to Oscar Wilde's late-19th century collection of short fairy-tales. Ranging from the macabre to the redeeming, each story has been adapted for the stage. This show only runs for 10 days, so don’t sleep on the chance to see it. Thursday-Saturday 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 2 p.m. Thursday, July 6 - Sunday, July 16. 300 E. University Blvd., Suite 150. $38.

Second SundAZe at Tucson Museum of Art. Museums are a great way to avoid dying in the relentless summer sun. Save your hiking for the fall, and appreciate the beauty your city has to offer inside. Every second Sunday, Tucson Museum of Art offers free admission for residents of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. July's program will focus on shapes and how we interact with them in the everyday world. Cartel Coffee Lab will provide coffee, you provide the fun! Noon.- 5 p.m. Sunday, July 9. 140 N. Main Ave. Free.