Robbers on High Street steal from the NY sound

On their new digital EP, The Fatalist and Friends, Robbers on High Street squeeze every last drop from the New York City 2004™ sound (e.g., Strokes, Walkmen, French Kicks, Longwave, Ambulance Ltd., et al) — extra virgin, this ain't. But give them credit at this late stage for finding anything left to extract from the chuggin' riff/bouncin' bass/simmerin'-young-singer-dude-with-fucked-up-hair MO. The recent EP is composed of two outtakes from their 2005 Tree City album and a couple of tunes from the forthcoming Grand Animals full-length, including a rousing cover of Paul and Linda McCartney's "Monkberry Moon Delight." Catch the Robbers live on Thursday, Jan. 25, at Café du Nord at 9 p.m. Admission is $8; call 861-5016 or visit www.cafedunord.com for more info. — J. Niimi

The members of S.F. trio Numbers (guitarist Dave Broekema, singer/drummer Indra Dunis, and Eric Landmark on keys) lead rather than follow, which is why they're keen to inform their MySpace friends that they've moved away from the now-trendy dance rock sound they started with into a singularly "epic, mind-driving sound." Set to record its next album for Kill Rock Stars in March, there's choice opportunity to hear Numbers' cryptic sonic metamorphosis on Friday, Jan. 26, at the Elbo Room at 10 p.m. Admission is $6; call 552-7788 or visit www.elbo.com for more info. — Tamara Palmer

There are musicians who bask in the spotlight, and there're others who radiate light from an unseen space. Canadian Michael Brook is in the latter category. As a guitarist, composer, engineer, and producer, Brook has studied with drone/minimalism legend LaMonte Young; played/collab'd with Brian Eno, Harold Budd, and Lisa Gerrard (ex-Dead Can Dance); midwifed recordings from the Pogues, Youssou N'Dour, and Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan; and scored the Al Gore film An Inconvenient Truth. (Not bad for a graduate from '80s synth-poppers Martha and the Muffins.) However, Brook hasn't been "forthcoming" as a live performer, thereby making any appearance by him a rare-indeed event. Brook, along with notoriously effervescent thrush Lisa Germano, performs on Friday, Jan. 26, at the Great American Music Hall at 9 p.m. Admission is $20; call 885-0750 or visit www.gamh.com for more info. — Mark Keresman

Sure, Earl Greyhound has the look down cold. Guitarist Matt Whyte's long locks sway over his low-slung Les Paul, Kamara Thomas rocks a 'fro 'n' scarf combo to rival that of Hendrix, while shades-sporting drummer Big Ricc Sheridan throttles a bass drum the size of a dump-truck tire. But it's the hooks that make these guys Brooklyn's heaviest rock band. Whether stabilized by chunky riffs or by the chilled-out Rhodes it sometimes deploys, Earl Greyhound's got chops like a pork store, melting down classic rock blocks (think Zep, Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Cream, T. Rex) into every one of its songs, without becoming beholden to such influences. Earl Greyhound performs on Sunday, Jan. 28, at 12 Galaxies at 9 p.m. Admission is $8; call 970-9777 or visit www.1212galaxies.com for more info. — Andy Beta