The Horned Hand (507 N.W. Colorado Ave., Bend) has had some trouble with the city of Bend’s new noise ordinance lately, but that’s not stopping the place from hosting music. Behold this week’s busy — and intriguing — schedule. All shows start around 8 p.m. and cost about $5.
• Tonight brings a visit from Boise, Idaho’s Jumping Sharks, a band that does a sort of dark, psychedelic twang-rock thing. Among their influences, they list Waylon Jennings, Ween and The Ventures. Eclectic! Opening will be another oddball Northwest act called Slow Bunny.
• On Saturday, the Hand gets a visit from James Apollo & His Sweet Unknown, a band from Arkansas ... or New York ... or Seattle — OK, everywhere — that mines a vein of Americana that’s dusty and vintage, but not twangy. This is more like the shadowy noir-pop of Tom Waits if he gargled velvet instead of glass. Compelling stuff. Opening is the like-minded Minneapolis band Murzik.
• On Sunday, the music cranks up a notch with the return of Crushed Out, a two-man honky-tonk/surf-rock explosion that sounds like pure, old-school rock ’n’ roll updated for the 21st century. Opening the show: straightforward L.A. punks the Dirty Filthy Mugs.
• It’s been a while since Ashland’s Kites & Crows came to Bend, and they’ll return Wednesday to celebrate their brand new album “More for the Mender," which came out in September and you can hear at kitesandcrows.bandcamp.com. Not surprisingly, it’s a collection of lush, gentle chamber-folk-pop packed with elegant playing and memorable melodies. This is a good band.
• Finally, on Thursday night, you can bring your chucklin’ pants to the show as the Hand hosts Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits, California-based purveyors of acoustic folk-punk and humorous lyrics. Expect lots of poop jokes, and other jokes, too.
