WEDNESDAY 8/27

SLINT, TROPICAL TRASH

Louisville, Kentucky–based post-rock/hardcore titans Slint forged majestic, dense, genre-shaping sounds to bewilder unready audiences for a few brief years in the late '80s/early '90s. I first listened to their harrowing 1991 masterpiece, Spiderland, in high school after reading too many listicles, and I didn't get it at all. Stumbling onto the album in iTunes a few years later, I listened again and still didn't really get it. Its melodies were so creeping and sinister, the vocals pure deadpan; everything about it felt out of reach. But then, the next time I listened: "This is pretty coo—WAIT, THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER." It was so intimate, abrasively real, full of so many memorable moments unfolding like this aggressively beautiful rock poem. Listen, be confused, go to the show, be even more confused. You will thank yourself in five years. Showbox at the Market, 9 pm, $25 adv/$30 DOS.

MONDAY 9/1

LEILA ADU, SOMESURPRISES, KATE OLSON, UNKNOWN ROCKSTAR

New York–based singer/songwriter Leila Adu writes meditative, socially conscious, piano-based avant-pop songs to mystify the night. Her style is playful and cabaret-like sometimes, haunted and chill-inducing at others, but her warbly, adroit vocals have a lush creepiness that's undeniable; weird-rock icon Steve Albini, who produced her second album, calls her "Spooky Adu." Also slated to eerie-fy the night are somesurprises' minimalist compositions, Kate Olson's sparse free-jazz saxperiments, and Unknown Rockstar's late-night looped guitar explorations. Hollow Earth Radio, 8 pm, $5–$10 donation.

TUESDAY 9/2

CHUNG ANTIQUE, TÜLIPS, ZEBRA HUNT

Los Angeles's Tülips are a self-proclaimed "riotgaze" trio with traded-off dual female vocals and jangly indie-rock melodies galore. Their songs are pop parasites worth getting infected with, winding themselves relentlessly into your brain. The trio will be playing at the Crocodile's back bar for the Seattle stop on their West Coast cassingle (yes, it is 2014) release tour, joined by local garage stompers Zebra Hunt and the technically dexterous post-/math-rock trio Chung Antique. Crocodile back bar, 6 pm, $5. recommended