TalkdemonicFirstly, the Megapuss/Little Joy show at Neumos is canceled. Sorry guys. Here are some things you might be interested in doing instead. And if I were you, I’d have a tough time choosing. Good thing I’m going to see the Silver Jews (and Monotonix) in Portland so that I don’t have to. Choose, that is.Talkdemonic, High Dive, 9 p.m., $8I didn’t write this up for Short List, and that was lame of me, because I’m a big fan of this instrumental duet from Portland, plus they’ve got a gorgeous new record out, Eyes At Half Mast, that I really like so far. If you’re one of those people who can’t get behind instrumental bands, Talkdemonic will change your mind. Percussionist, synth guru and catch-all acoustician Kevin O’Connor and cellist/violinist Lisa Molinaro know how to compose dynamic, utterly mesmerizing songs that ebb and flow. Without lyrics.Hater, the Cops, the Curious Mystery, Tractor Tavern, 9 p.m., $12Two of my favorite local bands, Seattle punk rock vets the Cops and psychedelia K Records signees the Curious Mystery, both open for Hater, about whom Andrew Miller wrote this for Short List this week: Hater hasn’t stirred a lot of online fanfare for its first gig in more than ten years. The group’s official Web site hasn’t been updated since 2005 (when Hater finally released its recorded-in-1995 album The 2nd), while its MySpace tribute page, dormant since April, remains planted in the past tense (“Hater will live on through all the fans they have created”). Perhaps Hater doesn’t need to do much Web promotion, because with Chris Cornell preparing to unleash a disastrous misfire (check YouTube for “Watch Out,” the worst of his Timbaland collaborations) and with “Kim Thayil works at Cinnabon” rumors circulating thanks to The Onion, Soundgarden fans desperately crave the reassurance of seeing the band’s erstwhile rhythm section engaged in respectable musical employment. Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd (Hater’s singer/guitarist) and drummer Matt Cameron co-founded this side-project in the early ’90s, combining the psychedelic swirls Shepherd contributed to his former band (with songs like “Head Down”) with a slight country twang. Details are scarce regarding who’s rounding out the lineup, but with Shepherd and Cameron confirmed to play Hater songs on stage together for the first time since 1997’s Bumbershoot, fans won’t be overly concerned with the identities of the accompanists.