“Star Wars”-themed metal?

Published 12:54 am Sunday, May 4, 2014

The fertile music scene of Oakland, Calif., keeps cranking out good (or at least weird/interesting) bands, with a particular focus on heavy/metal/punk acts, it seems.

On Sunday, Third Street Pub — a pub on Third Street, natch — will host three pieces of evidence. Let’s run ‘em down:

• Jedi Scum is a “Star Wars”-themed band out of Oakland that plays a nerded-out mix of punk, doom metal and powerviolence. It is fast and thrashy, with shredded vocals, massive riffs and song titles like “Let the Wookie Win” and “I Used to Bullseye Womprats in My T-16 Back Home.” Awesome.

• Venkman is also fast, thrashy and from Oakland, though they’re more punk, less metal than Jedi Scum, with “clean” singing. There are also no “Star Wars” lyrics, but Venkman does share a name with Bill Murray’s character from “Ghostbusters.” Song titles on Venkman’s debut 7-inch record include “Burritos and Wrestling,” “Throw Rocks at Cats” and “MMM Carpet.” Amazing.

• Under 15 Seconds is a bizarre punk duo from Richmond, Calif., which lists its genre as “WEST COAST ANTI-TALENT SELF-DEPRICATING SCATOLOGICORE” on Facebook. Look ‘em up on YouTube. You will almost certainly regret it.

Jedi Scum, with Venkman, Under 15 Seconds, The Kronk Men and E.F.A.; 8 p.m. Sunday; free; Third Street Pub, 314 S.E. Third St., Bend; www.m-o-m-p.blogspot.com.

— Ben Salmon

Marketplace