UNDERRATED / OVERRATED

Underrated

We were going to mock this pretentious trend, but, come to think of it, if you’re willing to pay up to $2,000 a year for a membership to the upcoming Soho House, or $4,950 for Doheny House, that means you won’t be anywhere near us.

For all you reflexive Gallo-haters who expect his new improvisational band RRIICCEE (playing at Jensen Rec Center on Dec. 22) to be a cavalcade of narcissism, remember this: In addition to being the embodiment of the postmodern male id, Gallo is a longtime veteran of esteemed avant-garde label Warp Records. So although the narcissism will no doubt be historically unprecedented, it might also be somewhat justified.

MEMBERS-ONLY CLUBS

VINCENT GALLO

CANDY-CANE JOE JOE’S

We don’t often advocate gilding the lily (it’s the WASP in us), but occasionally the revamping of a classic beats the original: We thought Trader Joe’s ersatz Oreos were perfect the way they are. Turns out adding crunched up bits of candy-cane pieces is a little piece of holiday heaven.

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Overrated

103.1’s FEEL MY HEAT

At its best Indie 103.1 broadcasts unexpected music from exciting, little-known bands. At its worst it’s a tool for the asinine musings of celebs on vanity shows like “Feel My Heat,” hosted by Danny Masterson and Brent Bolthouse. In your mind’s eye, see: Brent and Danny make the astoundingly unimaginative decision to start each Monday night show with Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.” Hear: the tiresome pair snicker at Silver Lake hipsters ad nauseam. Feel: cold, sad, irritated -- anything but heat.

BRENDAN MULLEN

It was a nightmare, all right. At the Track 16 Gallery signing for his new book, “Live at the Masque: Nightmare in Punk Alley,” Saturday, the manager of the celebrated late ‘70s club The Masque gave a deadly 2-hours-plus slide show that left us wondering if he’d missed the point of his subject: brevity is the soul of punk.

NICOLE KIDMAN’S FACE

We’re not implying plastic surgery. Heavens, no! But it wasn’t Kidman’s talent that had us riveted during the already painful “Margot at the Wedding.”