Carnival of Soul

The Motet

(Friday, Jan. 31)

This Denver-based funk band brings it all to the table, with wah guitar, driving four-to-the-floor backbeats and orchestral flourishes that just beg Tony Manero to shimmy onto the floor and let loose, especially on their newest lead-off single “Highly Compatible.”

The Motet are also one of those groups with a “Past Members” list on their Wikipedia page that runs about a dozen names long. What is it with funk groups that turn through players so often? I blame horn players.

For all of the funk/funk-adjacent bands that swing through Missoula, however, The Motet do offer something unique with their straight-from-1979 grooves and the silky voice of lead singer Lyle Divinsky. Bring your bell bottom pants to this one.

Concert at the Top Hat. Doors at 8:30 p.m. Show at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $22 at the door.

Drew Danburry and a Band

(Saturday, Feb. 1)

Danburry pokes his head up all over town — from a KFGM artist residency under the experimental moniker SRSLY and in Wave and Circuit’s songwriter circle. He’s playing with a band this weekend, which tells you everything you need to know, especially since Danburry dips his toe into every genre, sometimes all in the same song.

The five-piece Cosmic Sans bring a space-y take on classic rock, and Amalgarhythm (a newer group that started at open mics in 2019) open up.

Show at the VFW Ole Beck Post 209. Doors at 9 p.m. Free admission. Ages 21 and up.

The Dead Yellers

(Saturday, Feb. 1)

This country-rock “abomination” is one of the few good things to come out of Bozeman (looking at you Montucky Cold Snacks, Panther Car, a couple of misguided college friends). Led by singer and songwriter Peter King, The Yellers rock your socks off with ’70s Southern-styled guitar licks and upbeat harmonies. It kind of sounds like if “Truckin’” was a band, but with grit.

Catch ’em at the Top Hat. Show at 10:15 p.m. Free admission. Ages 21 and up.

BoomBox

(Wednesday, Feb. 5)

This duo, made up of Zion Godchaux and Kinsman MacKay, play house/rock, with drum machines, looping and some live keyboard and funk guitar fills that round out the mix into some wild dance music.

The group are known for mixing songs live, with no setlist. “Bands already have their songs, they have their sets. They’re looking at it as they’re performing. A DJ is trying to make the party happen,” Godchaux said back in 2007.

BoomBox’s newest album, “Western Voodoo” carries on the electronica/guitar sound — with the sly, funky “Restless Too” and uptempo “Castles.” A lo-fi hiss hangs on the album, which, with Godchaux’s light voice, make the music feel more early-2000s bedroom pop.

Ethno open at the Top Hat. Doors at 8:30 p.m. Show at 9 p.m. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door.

The Western States

(Thursday, Feb. 6)

Here’s a solid all-local punk lineup, featuring the Miller Lite-loving Western States, Poverty Porn and Haunter.

Poverty Porn are a three-piece made up of drummer Michael English, bassist Anthony Lozada and guitarist/singer Kyle Davenport, who play back-to-basics punk that chugs along fast enough that Davenport runs out of breath sometimes. Not that it’s super noticeable: His singing style also leans old school and is mostly a screaming rasp.

In a 2019 review, Kyle Kulseth recommended Poverty Porn’s “Pop Violence” EP “if you’ve had a bad day at your menial job and a corruptly and poorly managed university in your over-idyllicized mountain town, and headlines of racist politicians’ continued breathing are making you feel like throwing a few right hooks.”

Haunter are a guitar/drums duo with Nick Jackson and Seth Vigesaa. Jackson’s guitar doesn’t miss a beat carrying lead and rhythm duties on their single “The Barrens,” while it sounds like Vigesaa chips in some backing vocals.

And watch particularly for the Western States’ “Batman Begins”-inspired tune “Rooftops,” which chronicles a person obsessed with the night and overtaken by a fascination with crime (sound familiar?).

Show at the Badlander. Doors at 9 p.m. Music at 10 p.m. Ages 18 and up.