THURSDAY 9/28

ANDREW BIRD, CASS MCCOMBS
(Chop Suey) This is what an Andrew Bird show is like: one guy, long table, violin in hand. He plucks, saws, or thunks his instrument, then samples the sound and sandwiches it with guitar, whistles, glockenspiel, and vocals. Listening to Bird feels like living inside a Rube Goldberg machine, if it glowed and could harmonize. He's toured with My Morning Jacket and Magnetic Fields, and just signed with Fat Possum Records. Also, Bird is soundtracking part of "My Name Is a Blackbird," the new work by Chicago dancer Molly Shanahan. Basically, tonight might be your last chance to witness him before MySpace does. MAIREAD CASE

THE BEAUTIFUL MOTHERS, STEEL TIGERS OF DEATH HOT KNIVES
(Funhouse) See Rocka Rolla.

MAN MAN, THE LIGHTS, FLEET FOXES
(Neumo's) See Rocka Rolla.

LAMBCHOP, ROSIE THOMAS
(Triple Door) Lambchop prophet/cancer survivor Kurt Wagner and his alt-country-fused, old-school soul collective are mostly ignored in their Nashville, Tennessee, hometown—maybe even spat on. But Lambchop have become vital to the Southern music canon despite the mainstream, mullet-wearing populace. Live, Lambchop have been known to deploy guitar, two drummers, pedal steel guitar, open-end wrenches, lacquer-thinner can, organ, xylophone, euphonium, trombone, and resonating metal square. Wagner's lyrics and vocals cleanse and growl. Basically, Lambchop are scorned by Nashville's dip-spitting country-music industry heads for the same reason other people love them. TRENT MOORMAN

FRIDAY 9/29

PAT BENATAR, NEIL GIRALDO
(Emerald Queen Casino) See Rocka Rolla.

JUNIOR BOYS, ENSEMBLE, THE LONG RANGER
(Neumo's) See preview.

FELIX DA HOUSECAT
(Last Supper Club) Where does house music go after Felix Da Housecat? Or did house and Housecat end their relationship long ago, and what he has produced since that break can only be defined as dance music not for 21st-century humans, but for robots that early-'80s humans imagined would be part of everyday life in this century. The robots in Housecat's music never arrived. By the middle of the '80s, they were scrapped for the biologically enhanced creations of biotechnology. From this metal heap, this trash pop/punk/funk/new wave junk, Housecat reassembles machines for his remixes and concept albums. Housecat's revived robots have synthetic dreams and spend their electric existences on the dance floor. CHARLES MUDEDE

CHRISTOPHER WALLA, ALELA DIANE, YOUR HEART BREAKS
(Sunset, late) Though the wickedly emo band name could make Your Heart Breaks sound more like an eyeliner-sporting watered-down screamo act barely worthy of gracing the cover of Alternative Press, the local outfit actually play sleepy and simple bedroom pop songs about making mix tapes in the middle of the night. Their latest release, New Ocean Waves, also features an impressive collection of guest musicians including Laura Veirs, Karl Blau, and the Black Cat Orchestra. The cover of AP is the last place you'll ever find them, but that really isn't a bad thing. MEGAN SELING

TULSI, PEARL, TREA$URE, SCRIBES
(Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, Level 3) The temporarily displaced Vera Project rocks on with this solid smattering of that local hip to ya hop; Tulsi, who not long ago dropped the understated Fresh Points on Life LP, will be leading this bill. The young MC might need a lil' polish, but judging from his showing at the last Make It or Break It show, he has already built a sturdy following. Also performing is Pearl, one of the local underground's best-kept secrets; who knew the library was getting live like this? LARRY MIZELL JR.

SATURDAY 9/30

THE LIGHTS, WORMS, THE MOONDOGGIES
(Blue Moon) See Rocka Rolla.

ASOBI SEKSU, DARKER MY LOVE
(Chop Suey, early) Fronted by Japanese charmer Yuki Chikudate, New York's Asobi Seksu generate sexy, sugary swirls of shoegazer rock that splits the difference between the Creation and 4AD labels' output. Asobi Seksu's latest album, Citrus, is a sonic group grope among Lush, Ride, Cocteau Twins, and Swervedriver. If you want to party like it's 1991, throw on some Asobi Seksu. California quartet Darker My Love take the Dandy Jonestown Rebel Motorcycle for a jaunt through familiar, suede-jacketed, psych-rock motions. DML's self-titled debut album is both galvanic and trippily atmospheric without being innovative. Call it comfort head food. DAVE SEGAL

KULTUR SHOCK, LA PLEBE, SCORPIKNOX, JIL BRAZIL
(Crocodile) With the release of their fantastic new album, We Came to Take Your Jobs Away, Kultur Shock have managed to bottle the magic of their rip-roaring live shows into a recorded format so that those of you too lazy to get out of the house and see what the fuss is about can, well, see what the fuss is all about. A punk-rock romp through Eastern Europe, it's also a brilliant snapshot of America through the eyes of a bunch of intelligent, passionate immigrants who want to wake you up—and rock your socks off. BARBARA MITCHELL

FUNHOUSE'S FESTIVAL OF FREAKS: THE FUZZY KNUCKLE JAMBOREE, MONKEY, ZACH MICHAUD
(Funhouse) See Rocka Rolla.

BEN KWELLER, SAM ROBERTS
(Showbox) Whether or not you're a fan of his ultra-catchy, occasionally disposable alt-pop, there's something irresistibly charming about Ben Kweller. The baby-faced singer/songwriter just released his fourth solo album (on which he plays everything), has already earned more accolades than most artists twice his age, coheadlined a sold-out tour with Death Cab for Cutie a couple of years ago—and still barely qualifies for grown-up car-insurance rates. Like Ben Lee, he's precocious without being obnoxious and shows enough talent and staying power to make him an artist whose evolution is worth watching. BARBARA MITCHELL

TWO TON BOA, UNNATURAL HELPERS, THE CAVE SINGERS
(Sunset, late) The reality that creative types are disproportionately prone to battles with mental illness is one of the riskiest factors facing an ambitious, talented musician. Operating like the love child of Kristin Hersh and Diamanda Galás, Two Ton Boa leader Sherry Fraser converses in dark, introspective prose with elegant phrasing, constructing intelligent, unsettling art under the duress of bipolar II disorder. Thankfully, she received treatment for her illness and has recently emerged from a self-imposed exile with Parasiticide (Kill Rock Stars), her first proper full-length release and a record almost guaranteed to please fans of PJ Harvey's early work. HANNAH LEVIN

BILLY BRAGG, OTIS GIBBS
(UW Kane Hall) When MySpace exploded and the rest of us ran like hell for the chance to bend over for Rupert Murdoch, Mr. Bragg was the only person who seemed to have the smarts to say, "What's all this then about you owning any music we post here?" While aging "punk godfathers" render themselves embarrassing and irrelevant, cashing in on greatest-hits reunion tours and squabbling over royalties, Mr. Bragg has just published a book about what it means to be English in the 21st century while still making relevant, witty, amazing music. BILL BULLOCK

TOMMY GUERRERO, CURUMIN, HONEYCUT
(Nectar) This Quannum Records showcase brings to Seattle some worthy artists who aren't Blackalicious or DJ Shadow. Guerrero is a San Francisco skateboarding legend who also excels at blunted funk and vintage-soul resurrection à la Money Mark. From the Soil to the Soul, Guerrero's new album, exemplifies his casual, organic approach to aural lounging with panache—and the occasional Brazilian rhythmic lilt. Curumin offers even stronger Brazilian vibes on 2005's Achados e Perdidos, which is full of rough-hewn samba, tropical funk, lopsided reggae, and Curumin's vibrant soul plaints. He's a lovable mongrel talent, bending familiar sounds to his own designs. DAVE SEGAL

SUNDAY 10/1

CELTIC FROST, 1349, SAHG
(El Corazón) In the mid-'80s, Celtic Frost created two masterpieces of blackened metal that never forsook the bass (or double bass). Debut Morbid Tales and follow-up To Mega Therion are still monumental in their integrity and influence. Unfortunately, Frost then commenced a long, slow nosedive that began with overly flowery works like Into the Pandemonium, followed by a badly timed attempt at being a hair-metal band. This effectively killed their career. Seventeen years later, Frost return with a new album of modern gothic doom, which is inconsequential compared to the chance to see "Procreation (Of the Wicked)" performed by Tom Warrior himself. NATHAN CARSON

KAKI KING, CHRISTINE BAZE, SARAH BETTENS
(Triple Door) Guitarist Kaki King honed her chops at campus open-mic nights and in subways, until she won the ears of Velour Records impresario Jeff Krasno in 2002. She issued her debut full-length, Everybody Loves You (which is patently false), in 2003, and then jumped to Columbia for her brilliant sophomore album, Legs to Make Us Longer. King's expressive acoustic-guitar skeins of chords flow with Takoma Records—like grace and are suffused with an understated melancholy. King's new disc, ...Until We Felt Red, recorded with Tortoise drummer John McEntire and others, adds her fragile, frosty vocals and channels her deft compositional techniques into post-rock and baroque-pop meditations. DAVE SEGAL

MONDAY 10/2

SCISSOR SISTERS, DJ SAMMY JO, SMALL SINS
(Showbox) See preview.

TUESDAY 10/3

SUPERSYSTEM, ZOMBI
(Crocodile) Supersystem are the first in what will undoubtedly be a long line of dance-punk bands to enter the witness protection program. Formerly known as El Guapo, the band jumped the Dischord ship for Touch and Go last year, and took the opportunity to shed the husk off their oft-maligned former self. The result? Most notably, they've scrapped some of the boring—but not quite enough to make their latest, this year's A Million Microphones, strike a second-listen sort of chord. And for all of the improvements, I can't seem to get past the fact that Supersystem sometimes sound a little like Cake. ZAC PENNINGTON

SO DO YOU, PATIENCE PLEASE
(High Dive) Two weeks ago, Patience Please quietly released their small collection of demure pop songs in the form of the Parallel Plots EP. Carrying former members of Suretoss, Paxil Rose, and SloMo Rabbit Kick, Patience Please craft lo-fi and snappy, boy/girl-harmony-heavy pop with an endearing attitude-free quality. As for headliners So Do You's sound, it often provokes thoughts of Tom Petty despite the fact the vocals are more Steve Perry doing karaoke without the power-ballad ferocity of Journey backing him up. I'm still unsure whether that's a good thing. MEGAN SELING

SCISSOR SISTERS, DJ SAMMY JO, SMALL SINS
(Showbox) See preview.

WEDNESDAY 10/4

THE FUTUREHEADS
(Neumo's) By all reason and logic, the Futureheads shouldn't even have a sophomore album. Didn't they come along at the tail of that Interpol-driven neo-new-wave push? Isn't that generally the point in trends where record labels are blindly grasping at straws? But News and Tributes is surprisingly decent, a show of the 'Heads taking their gimmick—XTC with four-part harmonies—and making it nongimmicky via solid playing and clever songwriting. Even at the points where News falters, the Futureheads' live shows are another reason to be glad they didn't die. JOHN VETTESE

TV ON THE RADIO, GRIZZLY BEAR
(Showbox) See preview, Stranger Suggests and CD Reviews.

H IS FOR HELLGATE, PONY PANTS, SKYLINE DIVIDE
(High Dive) They used to be called Henkensiefken, but now they're called H Is for Hellgate. Unless the publicity photos lie, three of the four band members wear glasses. They have a slight Rainer Maria vibe, but that could be due largely to Jamie Henkensiefken's vocals. I would call them indie rock, but I think that'd make them sound more spineless than they actually are, so I won't. Lastly, Mayor Greg Nickels apparently told the band they were "great" after seeing them play, but I couldn't confirm that before press time (okay, I didn't actually try to confirm that before press time). And now you know all you need to know about H Is for Hellgate. Don't mention it. MEGAN SELING