It's great for a band to be hometown heroes, but a loyal local fan base can only take you so far. Skuzzy New Zealand indie poppers Cut Off Your Hands are wildly popular in their hometown of Auckland, and they're looking to bring their chilling, haunted house pop to new shores. The band, along with acts like the Ruby Suns and the Brunettes, is only the most recent product of a scene that has been exporting a surprisingly high yield of awesome bands since the 1980s (most notably, recently revived punk unit the Clean). COYH's debut album, You and I, released last year, is an epic batch of dark, tender pop in the vein of labelmates Les SavyFav, only less wacky. The band's show at the Vera Project on June 21 should be a moody good time, the perfect kind of low-key brooding for a muggy Sunday summer night. Setting the tone for the evening will be sassy bar rockers Thee Emergency. Led by dominating frontwoman Dita Vox, the band bases its sound around the only element needed to make good, old-fashioned rock and roll: earth-shaking, rib-crushing guitars played through huge amplifiers.

Fri June 19: Quiet by Ten, Lower Lights Burning, Paper Astronomer at Q Cafe, 8 pm, $7.

Fri June 19: The Spencer Goll Band, Gazebo, Flapjack and OJ at KTUB, 7:30 pm, $6.

Sat June 20: Har Herrar at Chai House, 7 pm, free.

Sun June 21: Cut Off Your Hands, Thee Emergency at the Vera Project, 7:30 pm, $9 adv/$11 DOS ($8/$10 w/club card).

Mon June 22: Blanket Truth, Woman Year, Ellie Fortune, Head Bangs at New Crompton, 7:30 pm, $5.