Rock and roll help for victims of Big Sur’s Pfeiffer Fire.

When East Village shut its doors, without much warning, for earthquake retrofit work, Friday’s scheduled show with The Silhouette Era, Everyone is Dirty, Burnt Palms and Pipsqueak was forced to reschedule.

Luckily, Michelle Findlay, wife of The Silhouette Era drummer James Findlay, saw the situation as an opportunity beyond the music – an opportunity to do something for the victims who lost their homes in the Big Sur fire back in December. But she had to find a venue.

“I had to think outside of the box,” Michelle says. “I attended a fundraiser at the Legion Hall last year and it was great; it has a homey feel, cheap drinks and it’s in a prime location in downtown Carmel.”

Legion Hall agreed to house what will probably be the loudest event that’ll ever go down under its roof. Then they donated the space. Everything else – Freeway Productions’ Brian Conway is providing the PA system and local businesses have donated items for a silent auction – came together quickly.

All proceeds are going to the Coast Property Association to distribute to victims. But first, it will get loud on Friday night in Carmel.

Local indie dream pop headliners, The Silhouette Era, are in full-throttle mode now that Findlay has shifted his focus onto the trio, taking a hiatus from his multiple side projects and brilliant one-man band Concave. As a result, the outfit can get ready to hit the studio and record its second full-length album, which should be completed by the year’s end.

TSE has already begun sprinkling in new tunes, which James says “go in a completely new direction,” in between material from their debut Movements. Half of their second set is all new songs.

Singer-guitarist Carlos Gonzalez wrote and demoed the first album by himself; this time, collaboration will be key.

Gonzalez, the primary songwriter, has already established it will be a concept album. While he has explained the concept to James and bassist Clay Payton, they’re still fairly unclear what the existential storyline means, but they’re sure they will understand it soon enough.

On the other hand, Oakland’s Everyone is Dirty are quite easy to understand: grunge pop built to be experienced live. It’s been a challenge for the group to channel that same energy into an album – they’re currently in the middle of recording their full-length debut, which hits the streets sometime in April.

“It has a lot of different moods on it,” says electric violin-vocalist Sivan Gur-Arieh. “Some tracks are more noisy and chaotic and then there are other tracks that are a little slower and psychedelic. But all of it is poppy and all the songs are really short.”

“Mama, No!!!,” the single off Everyone is Dirty’s three-track EP, definitely brings a poppy glow to a playful layer of ’70s glam and a chorus that’ll get lodged in your subconscious.

Though the group has been logging many studio hours, they’d rather be performing live, where they flourish.

“Tony [Sales] plays these really massive drums, with 26-inch kicks that make a lot of noise right off the bat,” Gur-Arieh says. “It’s pretty hard for that not to overpower you in the audience. And we just love to jump around and have fun.”

Recently, the group performed at the Stork Club, a rowdy rock venue in Oakland; Gur-Arieh says everyone seemed to have a good time that night.

“Everyone was moshing and some dude just pulled me into the audience and I was jumping around with my violin going crazy,” she says. “There were also a couple girls making out in the middle of the mosh pit.”

Meanwhile, Burnt Palms and Pipsqueak represent two of Monterey’s most talented young bands on-the-rise.

Drummer Clara Nieto and singer-guitarist Christina Riley originally formed Burnt Palms as a duo, but with the addition of bassist Brian Dela Cruz, the outfit’s garage rock-pop sound has more depth and versatility.

“Sometimes there are glimpses of several types of music within one song,” Riley says. “We’re into punchy songs that don’t have anything catchy.”

“Rather Die” delivers a whirlwind of mid-’90s riot grrrl meets Seattle grunge imagery saturated in punk rock time signatures and an erratic tambourine – Nieto adds simple drumbeats that bring all the elements together neatly.

Pipsqueak is another local trio worth the attention of anyone who digs rock and roll. Bassist Miranda Zipse, guitarist Jacob Ellzey and drummer Tyler Beron only recently poked their heads out into the public but they’re quickly attracting a fanbase, including an endorsement from Mozzo Kush guitarist Brent Smith who named them one of the “top local bands.”

If you look for more evidence, Pipsqueak – self-proclaimed “sweater punk” – doesn’t have a major online presence yet, however, they are on Soundcloud and they have posted a couple tunes available for streaming including the noise-fuzz nut-cruncher “Black and White” and “Darling,” a playful, fast-paced step towards The Clash’s Combat Rock.

THE SILHOUETTE ERA, EVERYONE IS DIRTY, BURNT PALMS and PIPSQUEAK play at 7pm Friday, Jan. 24, at American Legion Hall, Dolores and Eighth, Carmel. $10 minimum donation (if you can’t attend but still want to contribute, call 262-9192.)

: : HEAR MORE HERE : :

• http://www.everyoneisdirty.com/
• http://thesilhouetteera.wordpress.com/
• http://burntpalms.tumblr.com/
• https://soundcloud.com/p-i-p-s-q-u-e-a-k