Owl Paws’ booming “Party Johnson” was inspired by singer/guitarist Derek Schultz getting screwed over by his then-girlfriend, who was attending CSUMB. The tune includes folk-oriented harmonies reminiscent of Mumford & Sons fused with near-shouting lyrics delivered with angst:


“So f*** the compromise/ You must have been mistaken/ Who ever defined this was wrong/ If seeing is believing then I am clearly blind/ Why is there a pattern?”


But as resonant as “Party Johnson” proves, the Bay Area folk outfit – one of three bands performing Friday at East Village – wasn’t very happy with the way their self-titled debut turned out. The sound landed flat and the tone of the upright bass feels low.


“It was recorded on a lot of crappy equipment at home,” Schultz says.


The fact that the record built Owl Paws a fanbase nevertheless bodes well for the follow-up album – recorded in a fully outfitted East Bay studio – which is expected to be released in July. 


“We’re definitely progressing as a band,” Schultz says. He attributes the addition of a new bandmember – Brooke Dabalos on piano – as another element that’s taking Owl Paws’ folk-oriented harmonies higher in the sky.


Lazy Calm, meanwhile, moves with a much more hurried rhythm. It could be described as Salinas’ answer to solo electronica projects like Washed Out, only a lot rougher – and punkier – around the edges. The young mix-master recorded his first two albums – Wake Up, It’s Time to Sleep and White Cloud – in his bedroom. His third album, Sin Esperanza, was recorded, he says, in the “sad month of November in a living room by a bar.” The short, 8-minute EP begins with a young girl saying, “You can’t record forever,” before jumping into the ear-bursting “A Dream for the Past.” The well-organized collection of noise comes off as a cross between Sonic Youth at its raunchiest and The Chemical Brothers.


Monterey’s dapper-dressing VIS rounds out the night of music with potent indie rock. Keyboardist Collin St. John says the six-piece outfit’s sound is “inspired by music from around the world – and even includes some salsa and bossanova.”


VIS completes three hours of three very different bands. For $5, that sounds good. 


OWL PAWS, LAZY CALM and VIS start 7pm Friday, March 23, at East Village, 498 Washington St., Monterey. $5. 373-5601.