INDIE bands have it rough enough, but now groups must worry about getting their vans full of equipment stolen.
The latest victim is Film School, a San Francisco act whose 2003 Ford Econoline, bought two days before the tour started, was pinchedfrom a well-lit, attended parking lot in Philadelphia. The thieves hot-wired the van and drove it through the fence, the band reports on its Web site, filmschoolmusic.com.
Even so, the ’80s-flavored, brooding synth-rockers are playing on borrowed guitars, performing at the Mercury Lounge (217 E. Houston St.; [212] 260-4700) tomorrow, co-headlining with the Cloud Room, and Sunday, with Trick and the Heartstrings.
TONIGHT: Sondre Lerche is growing up before our eyes.
Now 23, the Norwegian pop singer/songwriter is back in town for a benefit concert at Housing Works Bookstore Café (126 Crosby Street; [212] 334 3324).
The blue-eyed crooner, who released his first album in Y2K, slays live crowds with his moving cover of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” He was inspired to release a one-time-only jazz-pop album, “Duper Sessions,” on March 21.
Opener Paul Brill, a New York City native, has one of those universal dreamy pop voices, but he distinguishes himself with his evocative songs. You can hear samples from the former herbal-smokes salesman, valet, corporate errand boy and marine biologist’s latest release, “New Pagan Love Songs,” at myspace.com/paulbrill.
With a name like Frog Holler, you’d expect a raucous country act, but this roots-rock band has more of a nestled-in-the-woods holler sound, where alt-country meets guitar pop.
Hailing from Reading, Pa., Frog Holler hops into the Rodeo Bar (375 Third Ave.; [212] 683-6500 tonight, to celebrate its fifth disc, “Haywire.”
TONIGHT Plus: Long live the guitar solo at this triple threat with the Hellacopters, the Datsuns and Nebula at the Bowery Ballroom (6 Delancey St.; [212] 533-2111)
The Hellacopters assault with rock ripped from across the decades – from the late-’60s Stones and Stooges and the ’70s’ Cheap Trick and Joan Jett.
Formed in 1994, the Swedish five-some are on tour with their new retro-active disc, “Rock & Roll is Dead,” on Liquor & Poker records.
New Zealand quartet the Datsuns, who also never fear a metal-minded guitar solo, play Maxwell’s (1039 Washington St., Hoboken; [201] 798-0406) on Monday with the High Strung and the Love Loves.
TOMORROW: Rapper Natalie Portman has nothing on Tim Fite.
The Brooklyn artist’s “Gone Ain’t Gone” stitches samples to create lo-fi rock, which makes his folk ethereal at times and his hip-hop soulful. The effect is a quilt of Prince, Chuck D and Beck.
Fite, along with Metallic Falcons and Jun Jenson, open for Tarantula A.D. at Tonic (107 Norfolk St.; [212] 358-7503). The Brooklynite usually performs with his brother, but he’s out of town, so expect a quieter, gentler show.
MONDAY: British foursome Guillemots‘ new album, “From the Cliffs,” offers a thrill-ride of pop, mixed with some experimental loop-de-loops, and calming whirlpools. The British foursome performs at the Mercury Lounge with Corinne Bailey Rae, Epo–555 and the Grates.
