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I figured it must've been a fluke, last week being so incredibly dead, because this week was positively vibrant with music. The weekend started with an unusual bang when I caught the beginning of King James' set at Splash, the disco on Highland. The two lead singers Cody King and Sharon James are total naturals for the top-notch cover band they front, which includes Lee Barbier of 2CV and The Myrtles on guitar. They are one of those perfect bar bands, that every song crops up like it was a result of "hey you know what would be perfect right now? 'The Joker' by Steve Miller Band." King James used to have a steady residency at the Alligator Bayou bar, but with its closing, these young soul rebels are looking for a home.

I made it down to SoGo to catch the last couple songs by the Shady Deal Band who were opening for Rebirth, but as the gulf between the bands started to widen, the drink specials and perfect night out convinced me to walk through downtown to Red Star and see what kind of scene is happening. The clubs downtown were packed and everyone was having a great time at Roux House (except for the guy passed out in the street as I walked by) but despite there not being any food available at night (hint, hint – you know other cities have a pizza guy, a hot dog guy etc. setting up camp outside the bars), it was a relief to see Baton Rouge in full revelry. At Red Star, The Eames Era doled out their sunshine rock to a capacity crowd that was actually dancing and acting like they were having a good time. Granted, it's hard to not get caught up in Alyson Philips's enthusiasm, described by a fellow attendee as "a Mentos ad on poppers," but still, we had public displays of enjoyment and no one was hurt. There's hope yet.

Saturday night I took in the mixed bag at the Darkroom. I missed the first two bands on the bill, I did walk in on Cincinnati, OH digital hardcore/underground hip hop/electro-death machine, Realicide, which consisted of a guy manning synth and drum machine hidden in an old suitcase, and two manic singers who swung wildly from slam poetry to death metal menace of a swarm of hostile, twisted beats. Difficult listening, to say the least, but it was riveting, and thrilling to see something fresh, even if it did seem like it wanted to kill me. The main act, Secret Annexe, is a seven-member indie folk outfit featuring, among other things, singer Rob Mulhearn's hook-infused lyrics, Shelby Rushing's subdued yet incendiary guitar work, Kelly Stone on the viola, and Kevin Carbo hunched in the corner over his "noise manipulator." The overall effect was like hearing seventies pop over some sort of lost radio frequency, where static and interference transmute it into something else. Lots of things came to mind during the show: Fleetwood Mac, Camper van Beethoven, Neutral Milk Hotel and, for one brief moment, Blue Oyster Cult but the fact that so many people could be engaged in creating such a unified sound is impressive.

Finally, Monday night saw yet another impressive tableau of underground hip-hop. Michigan's One.Be.Lo (aka Onemanarmy of Binary Star) dished out his def poetry-style flow over a barrage of minimal, bass heavy beats. It was good stuff, but the crowd was there for the headliners, RJD2 (best DJ name ever) and Blueprint. RJ takes an old school approach to the wheels of steel, spinning and scratching actual vinyl, somehow transmogrifying the embarrassment of Corey Hart's 'I Wear My Sunglasses at Night" into something cool, over which Blueprint reeled out his protest-march barker rhymes. Now, I will say that underground hip-hop as I've experienced it, is not much of a stage show, but during one number, both of them took to the mic, jumped from the stage and rapped from deep inside the crowd. Later on in the show, Blueprint went on a long political tirade after which RJ emerged as "Mo Buttons" with what looked like a phone keypad on his head and a drum machine strapped around his neck, and they played their cellphone-themed single, "I Need My Minutes," in that configuration. Silly, but it worked. And since hip-hop usually involves a non-stop panther pace around the stage and not much else, it definitely spiced it up.

HERE'S LOOKING AT ANOTHER GOOD WEEK

Wednesday May 17: Let's get this party started right with Lee Rocker (of the Stary Cats) at Chelsea's

Thurday May 18: the Listening Lounge at the Red Star should set your trajectory in motion; DJ Ribbz, Kryptic Soul System and The Dread await you at North Gate Tavern

Friday May 19: The Spanish Moon commences its weekend of domination with New Orleans hard-rock power duo Blackfire Revelation, whose EP from last year was one of my favorite things. The strum and twang of the Melters promises to charm the pants off the Red Star. And if that's not enough, Baton Rouge blues legend Little Jimmy Reed begins his two-night run at Teddy's Juke Joint in Zachary, should you be interested in seeing how some blues guitar is supposed to be played. Clay McClinton (son of legend Delbert McClinton) brings his flawless country rock to Phil Brady's. Finally, UNCROWNED, Hybrid L, and Kellers Remorse rock it up at Click's.

Saturday May 20: Beaumont's off-kilter "dirty surf" combo The Molly Maguires hang-ten at the Red Star. The 2,000-ton sound of Pelican swoops in and lays waste to the Spanish Moon. No band I know of sounds so heavy and yet so elegant, appearing with the equally tranquil Mono. 6 Pack Deep and South Coast Coalition drop the dope science on North Gate Tavern. German death metal masters Necrophagist promise to befoul the Darkroom, and The Roebucks are doing a Johnny Cash tribute at Phil Brady's.

Monday May 22: MC Frontalot appears in what has become a regular Monday night underground hip-hop thing at the Spanish Moon.

Tuesday May 23: Cougars, who infuse the Chicago post-rock thing with a bright loud horn section and a punk intensity, up the city's cool quotient at the Red Star.

Wednesday May 24: The fickle buzz in critical circle is on post-punk electro-rock group Liars, who bring their bag of ticks, and hopefully some of these films they make, to Spanish Moon along with Apes and Deer Hunter.