This Thursday, October 2, Brooklyn's High Places roll into Fremont's Nectar Lounge, fresh off the release of their beautiful and long-overdue debut full-length—and they're bringing another exciting out-of-town act with them.

Baltimore band Ponytail are like rock and roll for cavemen—drums stomp primitively and songs burst into towering fires of sound. Sometimes their tension builds beautifully, but it's just as often ugly and chaotic. Guitars jolt from piercing, lightning-fast, space-launched fret freak-outs to crushing, larger-than-life rhythms. Perfectly spastic lead singer Molly Siegel intensifies their already war-shocked music with indecipherable screaming, crying, and yelping on the front line. Their sophomore album, Ice Cream Spiritual, is one of the best albums I've heard all year. High Places must have the utmost confidence in their live show, because Ponytail are going to be a powerful act to follow.

On Saturday, October 4, Portland's Wooden Indian Burial Ground play the Fusion Cafe, bringing with them a unique brand of folk music that's as sad as it is fun and quirky. "Let's Open Another Bottle"—a story of drinking to ward off the pain of a fractured heart—draws listeners in with teary-eyed guitars and harmonicas. But when the alcohol has seemingly served its purpose, and the band's chant of "a broken heart is a hard thing to cure" rises up as if an entire bar were singing along, breaking up doesn't seem so hard as much as it seems like an excuse to party.

ALL-AGES CALENDAR

Thurs Oct 2: High Places, Ponytail, Oh Man! at Nectar, 8 pm, $10.

Fri Oct 3: Why?, Restiform Bodies at Vera Project, 7:30 pm, $11 ($10 w/club card).

Fri Oct 3: If I Were a Gladiator, Avarice, Sihaya, the Stags at the Old Fire House, 8 pm, $6.

Fri Oct 3: Seahouse, Masters and Johnson, Broken Vinyl, Meteorites Attack! at Ground Zero Teen Center, 7 pm, $6 ($5 w/can of food).

Sat Oct 4: Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Temple Vibe, Autopilot Is for Lovers at Fusion Cafe, 8 pm, $3.