BUZZ BANDS

A jump-start for Pseudopod

Pardon Kevin Carlberg for his exuberance -- when the Pseudopod vocalist joins his bandmates onstage at the Whisky tonight, every note is liable to sound triumphant. Last fall the jam-oriented rock band was touring in Colorado in support of its major-label debut album when Carlberg complained of a headache. Tests revealed a brain tumor, and in the ensuing five months the singer underwent treatments that have sent the cancer into remission. “I’m getting some energy back, and [tonight’s show] will be a good jump-start to everything,” Carlberg said last week. The quintet, which formed when the members met at UCLA, has a rabid collegiate following; in fact, the band’s victory in a “Best College Band in America” contest in 2000 financed the demo that got it signed to Interscope Records. Pseudopod embarks in March on a nationwide tour, and its first single, “All Over You,” will be released late in the month.

Fast forward

The release of a new album, “The Sounds of Change,” is still a few weeks away, but Huntington Beach rock group Stairwell plays the Troubadour on Sunday night. ... And she played one on TV: Majandra Delfino (who played the singer Maria on the Fox series “Roswell”) performs Monday night at the Knitting Factory. ... A benefit will be staged Sunday night at the Derby to help pay for legal expenses of Chhom Nimol, the lead singer of the L.A. Cambodian rock band Dengue Fever. Nimol was detained Feb. 7 at an INS checkpoint while returning from a show in San Diego. Brazzaville, the Radar Brothers and Future Pigeon are scheduled to perform.

-- Kevin Bronson

E-mail us at buzzbands@latimes.com.