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Our weekly concert picks: December 10–December 17

What we’re seeing live this week!

What we're seeing live this week!

Wednesday, December 10: Oldermost

Philly rockers Oldermost craft warm, cathartic rockers equally inspired by heartland rock and the gritty realities of city life. Formed 5 years ago when Bradford Bucknum, a bespectacled 20-something with a poet's heart and a musician's mind, relocated to Philly and formed a band, Oldermost grew from humble beginnings to some of the city's most promising up-and-comers, thanks to strong songwriting and a belief in "soulful investigation," or exploring notions of happiness, youth, and success through music. Their debut LP, I Live Here Now, dropped earlier this year after a successful Kickstarter campaign, and features both stirring rockers like "Close to the Fire" and moving slow jams like "Once I Left." These days, the band is hard at work on new material, and this Wednesday they'll test it out during an evening of "music and comedy," alongside Philly blues-rockers The Rivals, and comedians Chip Chantry and Doogie Horner. Thanks for the good vibes, Wednesday.

8:00 at Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., $10. Tickets available here.

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Thursday, December 11: Modern Baseball

For one year of my life, I lived in a DIY show house. It was a huge, disgusting house covered in beer cans and passed-out dudes — but it was also the site of some of the most epic nights ever: filled with music, and dancing, and the type of half-stoned, late-night convos that seem so profound at the time. Modern Baseball can relate. Half its members inhabit a similar house in West Philly — and when not touring across the country, opening for The Wonder Years (and other awesome acts) — they attend classes, and host shows, and compose sharp-witted ragers fueled by the grit around them. Formed in 2011 when high school pals Brendan Lukens and Jake Ewald met Sean Huber and Ian Farmer, Modern Baseball quickly took off, winning fans with honesty and rawness. As their popularity grew, so did their prowess — and in 2013 they signed to Run for Cover Records (The Wonder Years, Man Overboard) and released their sophomore record You're Gonna Miss It All. This Thursday, they play a homecoming show at the TLA; get on board and get ready to rage.

7:00 at the TLA, 334 South St., $15. Tickets available here.

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Thursday, December 11: Marian Hill

Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol met back in middle school in Haverford, PA, when Lloyd — son of a conductor and an opera singer — her Gongol sing, and was mesmerized by her pipes. Yet it would be some 10 years before the pair would officially collaborate: combining Gongol's vocals with Lloyd's production skills to form electro-pop group Marian Hill. That was about a year ago — in 2013 — and the pair has been on the rise ever since. Citing influences as diverse as Ella Fitzgerald and Kanye, Marian Hill craft unique, genre-bending tunes, that combine R&B, trip-hop, electronica, and more, into something both minimalistic and deceptively complex. Their debut EP, Play, dropped earlier this year; its easy confidence and creativity helped them land a spot on XPN's Festival roster and a burgeoning local fan base. This Thursday, they satiate crowds at Boot & Saddle; wear your skates 'cause we predict tunes as smooth as ice.

8:30 at Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St., $10–12. Tickets available here.

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Friday, December 12, and Saturday, December 13: Marco Benevento

Marco Benevento is an experimental jazz pianist, a description that likely won't pique the interest of show-goers looking to rage. But before you write him off, watch this. Then tell me this ISN'T the wackiest romp you've seen (while keeping in mind it features a man with a tiger head playing saxophone)…and I will be very impressed. More than just a jazz pianist, Benevento is first and foremost a creator, who genre-blending fusion of melodies and sounds yields something exuberant and unique. A Jersey native and Berklee Music graduate, Benevento rose to fame in the early 2000s, as one-half critically acclaimed instrumental pair Benevento-Russo Duo, before releasing his first solo record in 2008. His most recent, Swift, sees him lending his rhythmic and improvisatory skills to electro-pop — for a record as fun as a day at the circus. Live, the capricious artisan mans a slew of pedals, amps, effects, and circuit-bent toys — for a result that will have you dancing harder than you expect.

9:15 Friday and Saturday at Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., $15. Tickets available here and here.