There was a time when asking a band “what kind of music do you play?” was a simple question that required a simple answer, often monosyllabic. These days, that dynamic has changed. In the cross-pollinating, file-sharing musical stew we simmer in today, bands like San Diego’s B-Side Players could spend all day telling you what kind of music they make. But instead of firing out a conglomerate of hyphenated genres, iconic comparisons and other self-inflating douchebaggery, they would rather just play it for you. It’s probably easier to let their brew of Jamaican rhythms, raw Latin gusto and howling horns do the talking as they blast you with tracks from their 15+ years of material. This week they play alongside OC Weekly’s favorite Latin “eclectophiles” Boogaloo Assassins and Allensworth, a reggae-funk (there go those god damn hyphens again!) troupe from Huntington Beach. Call the music what you want, just make sure the word “good” is somewhere in the description.
Fri., May 1, 8 p.m., 2009
