There's black metal and death metal, speed metal and good-old regular heavy metal, but since their inception in 1995, Seattle has been lucky to have the world's premier "book metal" band, BlöödHag, punishing the love of literacy directly into our skulls from right here in our own backyard. This Saturday, December 6, at the Vera Project, their lit-metal brain crackers will mutilate your mind like so many creatures from the sci-fi novels they sing about (and, of course, hurl at the crowd). Sissies stay home, because while the band may care about your desire to read, they could care less about your poor little ears and your ability to hear.

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It's always a little bittersweet to watch a favorite musician blow up overnight, especially when it's someone whose songs are as personal and genuine as Juno-soundtracker Kimya Dawson's. But Dawson's new album, Alphabutt, is hardly an attempt to "sell out." Rather, it's a celebratory collection of kids' songs inspired by the birth of her own child, full of zoo mischief and fart jokes simple enough for babes but clever enough for more distinguished ears. Such an anticareering move, along with the fact that she still plays small DIY shows like last summer's Carousel Festival (on top of Bumbershoot and Capitol Hill Block Party), proves that indie rock needn't feel slighted by Dawson's recent brush with mainstream fame. For her show at Neumos on Monday, December 8, she'll be joined by her brother Akida Junglefoot Dawson for what's sure to be a kid-friendly family affair.

Fri Dec 5: The Oregon Donor, the Globes, Deer City at Q Cafe, 7:30 pm, $6.

Fri Dec 5: Derek M. Johnson, 1908, Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk at Gallery 1412, 8 pm, $5–$15 sliding scale.

Sat Dec 6: BlöödHag, Doomhawk, Filth Mattress, Evangelist at Vera Project, 8:30 pm, $7 ($6 w/ club card).

Mon Dec 8: Kimya Dawson, L'Orchidée d'Hawaï, Akida Junglefoot Dawson at Neumos, 7 pm, $12.