BUZZ BANDS

The rock world on a string

The Section Quartet’s striking take on music -- string arrangements that marry the worlds of rock and classical -- has earned the foursome loads of session work, surprising album sales and even a slot at the 2004 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

No surprise, then, that violinists Eric Gorfain and Daphne Chen, violist Leah Katz and cellist Richard Dodd have landed a nightclub residency -- three gigs at the Echo. They start tonight by performing an all-Tool set for the first time. On Sept. 22, they reprise their take on Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” and on Oct. 6 they play Radiohead’s “OK Computer.”

The Tool music helped catapult the Section Quartet to prominence. The foursome contributed to the album “Third Eye Open: A String Tribute to Tool” (2001), which has sold 90,000 copies, and Tool front man Maynard James Keenan hired the group to play on the album by A Perfect Circle (his side project). It’s part of the quartet’s dizzying resume, which includes work on the new Kanye West album. The live set, however, is liable to inspire wannabe musicians to take bows in hand.

“The Radiohead stuff has proven to have the most depth; their writing is very orchestral and thick,” Gorfain says. “But the Tool stuff is great -- hey, it’s prog-rock. I like the riffs, and they all have great parts in their arrangements.”

The disposition isn’t so sunny

As its honorary name might suggest, the Deathray Davies make quirky music that sounds as if aliens abducted everything you liked about vintage pop, recombinated it and beamed it back to a world where heads bob in jaunty bliss -- hooks, harmonies and sunny disposition intact. Well, almost.

Mastermind John Dufilho sings with the innocence of a man you imagine never quite put away his Grassroots records, even if themes of death and destruction abound. “The music is pretty lighthearted, but there are plenty of dark messages,” he says. “I’ve always been interested in that kind of contradiction.”

He has mined it tirelessly, putting out five albums in five years, including 2005’s “The Kick and the Snare.” (He also has a solo record due in October.)

Yes, the Dallas-based sextet still seems to high-five its musical antecedents -- Kinks, Who, Three O’Clock -- but its kitchen-sink arrangements help its three-minute nuggets sound fresh. “We went out of our way to make a different-sounding record,” says Dufilho, whose band opens for the Posies tonight at the Knitting Factory. “It’s a little more straightforward.”

New Orleans acts stay on tour

Two music acts from New Orleans plan to remain on tour indefinitely while their hometown recovers from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. A Particularly Vicious Rumor and Crooks & Nannies will perform Sunday night at the Scene Bar in Glendale. Expect a highly theatrical show -- APVR, a duo, is not far from the dark, punk cabaret of the Dresden Dolls; C&N; is the project of accordionist-violinist-banjoist Walt Ever.

Another New Orleans act that made an impression locally, the Morning 40 Federation, will be coming to L.A. soon. The horn-laden sextet, signed to M80 Music (run by Scene co-owners Carl Lofgren and Dave Neupert, with Jeff Semones), has finished recording its second album. “We were going to release it on Fat Tuesday, but that all depends now,” Lofgren says.

New on the

store shelves

A deluge of new releases arrives Tuesday from local artists. In no particular order: Punky quartet Go Betty Go debuts “Nothing Is More,” with an appearance Tuesday at Tower Records in Glendale and a show Thursday at the Troubadour.... Behind its debut full-length “Hearts and Unicorns,” the duo Giant Drag plays Tuesday at CineSpace.... Buzzed-about teenage trio the Like plays an opening slot Tuesday for Tori Amos at the Santa Barbara Bowl. The Like’s “Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?” -- boasting a heavyweight production team -- will get plenty of attention this fall when the trio tours with Kings of Leon.... Dengue Fever marks the release of “Escape From Dragon House” with shows Sunday at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach and Wednesday at the Scene.... Carlos Guitarlos’ new disc is titled “Hell Can Wait;” catch him Saturday at Perq’s in Huntington Beach or Sunday at Liquid Kitty on Pico Boulevard.... Behind his new release “Static Trampoline,” soul singer Chris Pierce plays a benefit Sunday at the Hotel Cafe for Hurricane Katrina relief. He returns Sept. 22.... And Space Mtn, whose debut, “A Drawing of a Memory of a Photograph of You,” came out this week, plays Saturday at Spaceland.

Fast

forward

Rocket From the Crypt is calling it quits after 16 years. The band announced this week on its website that its Halloween show in San Diego will be its finale.... L.A. quartet the Vacation has signed with Rick Rubin’s American Recordings, which will re-release “Band From World War Zero” later this fall.... Tips to the Eugene Edwards Band (nice T-shirt, John Hoskinson) for a tight set last week at the resurgent Mint. Speaking of the Mint, Peter Himmelman, who just released a career retrospective, plays there Tuesday night.

*

-- Kevin Bronson