Happening Wednesday: Tao Lin, the Drums and more

POP MUSIC

Surfer Blood / The Drums The two up-and-coming indie outfits, who are co-headlining during their exhaustive North American fall tour, use a distinctly modern blend of surf instrumentation and pop sensibilities. Hailing from West Palm Beach, Fla., Surfer Blood’s quirky reverb-laden take on the genre has been likened to Weezer, while New York’s the Drums have distinguished themselves with an unusual channeling of ‘50s surf culture and Factory Records. The Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 9 p.m. $20. (323) 464-0808.

BOOKS

Tao Lin L.A. welcomes the 27-year-old, wildly polarizing literary figure, a young author who’s been called a “deadpan literary trickster” by the New York Times and who will read and sign from his new novel, the drolly titled “ Richard Yates.” Barnes & Noble, Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, 7 p.m. Free. Also at Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., L.A., 7:30-9:30 p.m. Thu. Free. (323) 660-1175, skylightbooks.indiebound.com.

Caryl Phillips The author, born in the West Indies, raised in England and now living in New York, has written “Dancing in the Dark,” “A Distant Shore” and more. As part of the Hammer’s New American Writing series, he will read from his latest novel, “In the Falling Snow,” which tells of a London social worker in his 40s whose life is unraveling. A book signing will follow. Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 443-7000. hammer.ucla.edu.

Michael Hiltzik Joan Didion isn’t the only writer to be fascinated with Hoover Dam, the behemoth holding back the Colorado River. Los Angeles Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Hiltzik writes about the undertaking in painstaking detail in “Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century,” his history of the dam that officially took 96 lives in its construction. Despite its toll, Hiltzik notes that many of the project veterans remember the dam, a catalyst for the Southwest’s still-growing population, with pride. Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave. 7:30 p.m. (323) 660-1175.