Happening Tuesday: Eels, Frederic Tuten and more
POP MUSIC
The Melvins The foremost purveyors of post- grunge and proto-punk guitar bass players are practically ageless, except for the unlucky sap on the four-string. They’ve so frequently swapped that the band’s website features a “Melvins Bassist Morgue” to keep track of the countless switches. Detroit Bar, 843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa. 9 p.m. Tuesday, $18. (949) 642-0600. https://www.detroitbar.com.
Eels The band isn’t just Mark Oliver Everett’s bread and butter as a writer — it’s his breakfast, lunch, dinner and nightcap. Pianos sparkle, bluesy guitars swagger and Everett sings as if he just decided to have that one drink too many. The evocative indie folk on “Tomorrow Morning” is shimmering yet emotionally ransacked, and an affecting entry to his long catalog. With Jesca Hoop. Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. $30.50. themusicbox.la
BOOKS
Frederic Tuten The Bronx-born writer Frederic Tuten, who dropped out of high school to engage in the wildly romantic fantasy of being a painter in Paris, has a new book of interrelated stories, “Self Portraits: Fictions.” Cleverness abounds, as in the story where Death appears as a genial waiter in a bar across from the Metropolitan Museum. It’s the kind of wry wit that Steve Martin, fellow writer and jack-of-all-trades, has made a career of exacting in film and in his writing, including his new book, “An Object of Beauty.” The men will discuss the role of art and writing in their lives. The Getty Center, Harold M. Williams Auditorium, 1200 Getty Center Drive. (310) 440-7300. 7 p.m.
MOVIES
Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore When your blood budget takes up the better part of your film’s expenses, you’re doing something right in the horror world. Lewis made his reputation on this premise — how many ways can the human form be filleted by sundry evildoers? Frank Henenlotter’s documentary on the director follows his surprisingly genial mind through its anticoagulant creative process. Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. $12. https://www.cinefamily.org.