For all the once-fascinating rock acts who have lost their edge by getting poppier over time, it’s encouraging to see Kero Kero Bonito march defiantly in the opposite direction. On their first proper album, 2016’s Bonito Generation, the English trio dove into a shiny electro-pop sound with an audible sense of glee. Sure, their music made for zany fun, but Kero Kero Bonito and their mix of Japanese and English lyrics could easily be dismissed as another Cibo Matto. That all changed with their sophomore album, 2018’s Time ’n’ Place. It’s a darker affair that’s overcast by family deaths and frontwoman Sarah Bonito’s troubling dreams about the Japan of her childhood. The addition of sandpapery shoegaze guitars weighs down the music so that it no longer threatens to float away like a balloon. In fact, Time ’n’ Place brims with ingenuity, as the band charts a previously unseen path between bubblegum and substance. Meanwhile, unorthodox harmonies and angular arrangements make a new home for art rock in the realm of pop. Los Angeles electronic artist Negative Gemini will open. 8 p.m. at The Basement East, 917 Woodland St. SABY REYES-KULKARNI
Kero Kero Bonito w/Negative Gemini
