Sinatras: not dead
The band Trashcan Sinatras has just finished a parking-lot gig in Atlanta, and it is "a bit hectic," says singer Frank Reader. Reconsidering, he adds, "It's better than torpor." The group, formed 17 years ago in Glasgow, has had a lot of downtime -- its last US tour was in 1993 and until the recent "Weightlifting" CD, its last widely available disc was released in 1996. The first song on the new record is a rocker, "Welcome Back." "It would have been obstreperous to put it in the middle of the record," says Reader. "Also, we felt if people wanted an album of slow, peaceful, reflective songs they could just go to track 2 and strike up a cigarette. They wouldn't be lured into five songs of reflection and then suddenly [bang!]." Reader's tongue is a bit in cheek, but the Sinatras are known for their contemplative midtempo dream-pop. Reader says, "We have our boisterous moments, and especially live." The Sinatras are back, says Reader, because "we had bits of songs lying around, chords, couplets, lyrics. It was a pool we could dive into. When we were just avoiding each other and thinking of calling it a halt, we found there were a few things we really liked, we felt like it was our duty. We got together and it had its own momentum. We started to get our confidence back and started to forgive each other, started being nice to each other. And the songs took us along the way." Check out the quartet at the Paradise tonight. Roddy Hart opens at 8. Tickets for the 18-plus show are $14.
967 Commonwealth Ave., 617-562-8800.
August behavior
Go! has an attention span longer than a knat's, but we have to admit that a TV miniseries running more than two nights strains our brain. When we think of what playwright August Wilson is doing in the theater -- which we equate to Homer writing "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" -- we can only stand and admire, mouth agape, at such persistence and tenacity. Wilson's ninth installment of his 10-play cycle chronicling African-American life in the 20th century, "Gem of the Ocean" (set in 1904), arrives Friday at the Huntington Theatre and runs through Oct. 30. The play was going to kick off a week earlier, but director Marion McClinton fell ill and dropped out. (Kenny Leon took over.) Wilson was also going to speak last Monday about the play, but he will instead do so tonight at the Media Arts Building on the campus of Roxbury Community College. (If we were there, we'd probably ask Wilson about the 10th installment, "Radio Golf," in which we hear that golf-loving real estate developers are making plans to destroy Aunt Ester's former home. We love golf here at Go! and can't imagine any unscrupulous developer tarnishing the game's good name.) As for "Gem," it concerns blacks trying to make it in a post-slavery America. Fires are set, and people die. Tonight's talk starts at 7. The room can hold a few more than 500 people. "An Evening with August Wilson" is free, but it's not a bad idea to make reservations.1234 Columbus Ave., Roxbury, 617-266-7900 x1021.
Toys in the attic
If we told you we thought about "Psycho" each and every time we took a shower, you'd probably say we were crazy. Maybe even paranoid. So we're not going to tell you that. We are going to say we only think about "Psycho" every other time we take a shower, which, we gather, puts us well within the normal range for American film fans of a certain age and predilection. Yes, Alfred Hitchcock changed the act of showering. He also wiped out what we all had thought was the heroine (or at least the protagonist) -- Janet Leigh's Marion -- very early in the flick. Tonight, the Harvard Film Archive brings "Psycho" back -- rest assured, it's not Gus Van Sant's pointless 1998 remake -- at the Carpenter Center at 7 p.m. Speaking of pointless: Go! once had a tour of the Orlando sound stage where one of the innumerable stupid "Psycho" sequels was filmed. Oh, how we tried to feel some frisson, some fear! We felt nothing until we went outside and felt the wrath of a Florida-size downpour. Tickets are $8.24 Quincy St., Cambridge, 617-495-4700.
Young, fast, and scientific
We just got a paperback in the mail called "Turd Ferguson & the Sausage Party: An Uncensored Guide to College Slang," and since we're a few years removed from the collegiate experience ourselves, we thought we'd delve right into it (and steal from it!) to hip you kids (ouch!) to the Eighth Annual College Night event at the Museum of Science. For one thing, you will not go around the world (a party theme in which participants move through different rooms, each decorated in the theme of a different country, with appropriate alcoholic beverages provided). You will go to many rooms, however -- including the Omnimax Theater, Planetarium, and Laserium, if you wish -- but not with booze. This event is free for students with ID, but you can purchase a ticket for "The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy -- The Exhibition" for only $5. You might possibly hook up (a romantic or sexual encounter of varying degrees of intimacy) with someone, but if you do it flagrantly you might be booted out the door. It's almost certain that the museum will provide you with oodles of scientific fun, but you must not go OOC (Out of Control). The event happens from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. KISS-108 (WXKS-FM) will be on hand playing music that goes thumpa, thumpa, thumpa. This could even turn out to be federal (something that's extremely good).Science Park, 617-723-2500.
Events can always be canceled, rescheduled, or sold out; call to confirm. Go! can be reached at go@globe.com or by calling 617-929-8257.
