Hank III Not sure whether spending our nation’s birthday with somebody other than Hank Williams’ grandson might be contrary to the Patriot Act, but I’ll look into it. Hank III’s live shows come in two flavors, of course: the country one that links him to his grandpappy like there never was a Williams Jr., and Assjack, Hank III’s brutal hard-core alter-ego. There’s nothing too original in either, but it’s all done like Hank III’s life depends on it. Given his partying proclivities, it just might. With Lucky Tubb. Amos’ Southend
Loser Life If people aren’t sufficiently sick of seeing the whole Bastard Baby musical analogy yet, allow me to say that Loser Life could be the John Doe spawn of the Riverdales and Minor Threat, if, say, the Riverdales had also slept around with Black Flag circa My War, and maybe some random, mustached college kid with an armload of Suicidal Tendencies sides and the original vinyl of Zen Arcade. Fun shit, regardless. With Lowbrow, Meth Mountain. Lunchbox Records (Timothy C. Davis)
Benji Hughes Kid Crooner does a two-night stand at a venue that affords him serious home-court advantage. What that means live, as any who’ve seen him in Snug’s snug confines know, is a loosey-goosey Hughes free to wander off the script (and stage) because his crack East coast band – ex-Muscadine mate Stacy Leazar on bass, time-keeper extraordinaire David Kim, keyboards whiz kid Jon Phillips and guitar hero Peter Gray – is good enough to reel him back in. If you haven’t heard Hughes’ summer-iffic A Love Extreme yet – what the hell are you waiting for? With the Poontanglers on the 3rd, and the Troublewalkers on the 4th. Snug Harbor (John Schacht)
311 The rap rockers are returning on the band’s annual summer Unity Tour. This time around, they’re bringing along Ziggy Marley. While one hopes that an onstage collaboration would be done with some of the tour partners, I haven’t witnessed it the last two years. The band plays a variety of hits from their albums over a long set, but they’re sure to break out tunes from their new album, Uplifter, too. I can guarantee the new single, “Hey You,” will be in there somewhere. Now, if I could only guarantee that they would still end their show with “Fuck the Bullshit”… It’s just not the same without it. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Jeff Hahne)
Sugar Glyder Sugar Glyder is proof that UNCC can produce more than architects and business majors. Following in the footsteps of other UNCC alum, The Sammies, Sugar Glyder seem poised to become one of the next big things in music. Surely it won’t be long before we hear them in the background while one of our favorite TV characters has a revelation, dances around in their underwear, or well, something. You’ll hear some tunes off the band’s new CD, too, since this is the release party. With Terminal Reynaldo and Atriumantra. Tremont Music Hall (Sam Webster)
Matt & Kim Not a lot of subtlety here, as this Brooklyn duo pairs ’80s synth-pop rhythms with a pop-punk ethos and a high-octane (and high-fructose, given their fondness for food fights) live show to create danceable mayhem. Matt Johnson’s bubbly melodies and the hyper-kinetic beats of (adorable) drummer Kim Schifino create a simple framework for songs about … well, it doesn’t matter what they’re about, does it? The idea here is fun and from that standpoint M&K fulfill the mission statement. With MSTRKRFT and A-Trak. The Forum
Ben Prestage Prestage racks up amps-load of cred with his Beale Street country blues shuffling along to vocals that channel Tom Waits growl and the accompanying cacophonous picking and percussion. But Prestage is a bluesman in his own right with an ear for bluesy gin joint rockers that would be also at home in a backwoods honky tonk. Double Door Inn
The Lemonheads Evan Dando and The Lemonheads are back on the oft-toured circuit with the twangy new collection of tunes called Varshons (produced by Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes). The record features Kate Moss (the new wavish “Dirty Robot”) and Liv Tyler (the acoustic “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye”) along with a confounding G.G. Allin cover, but other than that it’s Dando all the way with his slacker vocals and guitars that reliably deliver. Visulite Theatre (Samir Shukla)
Left On Cates At first glance, Left On Cates may seem like just another teenage rock band, letting out their sexual and social frustrations through throaty vocals and sing-along melodies … well, maybe at second and third glance, too. This Raleigh quartet may not be tackling anything new, but they are working their way out of the ordinary with recognition from mtvU as one of the best campus bands, and by opening for major acts such as Senses Fail and Deerhunter. Hey, sometimes a little of the familiar makes for the best time. With Hotspur, We Are Masked, The Fire Tonight and Sundrone. Tremont Music Hall (Sam Webster)
Johnny Winter Of course to say that Winter is a blues-rock icon is stating the obvious. Forty years down the road from his 1969 recorded debut, Winter fires up his guitar accompanied by that unmistakable throat and settles into a burning blues mode with such ease that breathing becomes non-essential. Just go for crying out loud. With Cyril Lance. Neighborhood Theatre (Samir Shukla)
Volatile Baby If you don’t get to see them at the Pewter Rose on Friday, June 26, well, it sounds like this is probably your last chance. From what I’ve gathered via rumors, chats and Facebook (e-mails went unanswered), it sounds like keyboardist Allison Modafferi is heading out for a new project and the future of Volatile Baby remains uncertain. So, at this point, they’re making like Nine Inch Nails and calling them the “last shows.” Solid female three-part harmonies help the band stand out from the pack. If the rumors are true, it’s going to leave a hole in the Charlotte music scene’s talented landscape. Pewter Rose (Jeff Hahne)
Stump Dickens “Formed on the assumption that Herbie Hancock, not John Hancock, signed the Declaration of Independence,” C-towners Stump Dickens will probably not make sense to those Bible-belters still stumped by (Charles) Dickens. Talk about evolution: a mix of Anticon/Def Jukie thesaurus rap combined with a live backing band just as likely to kick out a banjo riff as a big bass bumper, Stump Dicky’s backpack-’n'-a-sack wraps should be on more shoulders than Jansport right about now. Well worth your time, and one of the best “new” bands around, whatever the genre. With Eyes of the Elder and Inflowential. The Evening Muse (Timothy C. Davis)
Marah The brothers Bielanko have seen their star rise and fall with some regularity over the past decade. Their ramshackle debut, Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook-Up Later On Tonight, was a gem lost in the alt-country miasma of the late-’90s; 2000’s Kids in Philly was acclaimed as a worthy heir to mid-’70s Springsteen but under-performed at the register. So Marah dumped The Boss-meets-Mummers Parade-banjo thing and hired Oasis’ producer, releasing the bloated Float Away with the Friday Night Gods, which nobody liked. The Bielankos returned to rootsier sounds and critical kudos after that, but suffered band implosion in early 2008. So with a new cast in tow (minus Serge Bielanko, a first-time papa, for the time being) and a record on the way, Marah soldiers on. With Boone wildmen the Naked Gods and locals Foxchase. Milestone (John Schacht)
Polvo Isn’t it weird talking about Polvo in the present tense? A dozen years ago the Chapel Hill quartet called it quits, and you’d have made good money betting on a reunion since relatively few took notice of them the first go-round (excepting all the musicians who, VU-style, formed bands after hearing them). But with Merge celebrating its 20th anniversary – another long shot back then – and a few festival appearances under their belt, three-quarters of the original band (plus new drummer Brian Quast, ex-the Cherry Valence) headed into Echo Mountain with Brian Paulson earlier this year and, presto, a new Polvo record, In Prism, due out in September. If history holds, it’ll be a hypnotic mix of fractured melodies, semi-tonal guitar skronk, and metronome-defying time-sig shifts. With electric Des Ark and locals the Junior Astronomers. Visulite Theatre (John Schacht)
Pattern Is Movement Most bands take their new compositions straight into the studio or onto the road merely for fine tuning; this Philly duo works inside-out on tour, discovering their songs’ true nature on stage and then taking them into the body shop for detailing (local producer Scott Solter at their service, again). This fits the aptly named act to a tee, as PIM is all about puzzle-making – seemingly disparate sections put together to create its own logical framework. At one time a quintet, the pieces now consist mostly of banks of different keyboards, polyrhythmic percussion patterns, and vocals that would make good musical accompaniment to an Ionesco play. With Yardwork and Fluffy Lumbers. Milestone
Trevor Exter. Cellist and singer Exter concocts funky ditties. He plays the cello, well, more like picks, pulls, slaps and bends it like a guitar and what ensues is everything but classical. A session man who has played with varied artists spanning genres, Exter’s music straddles the outer boundaries of twang, pop and rock. It’s darn good when he’s on and occasionally hokey when not. With Ben Henry and Erika Blatnik. Milestone
Stephen Warwick & the Secondhand Stories. Warwick is one of the city’s most underrated songwriters, but that’s likely to change now that – if the rumors are true – the debut is done. There is, as someone somewhere wrote, something here for nearly everyone, from “singer-songwriter fans and indie aficionados” to “lap-top folkers and Americana geeks.” If you prefer your footholds have actual names, imagine Elliot Smith in a better mood with some Stephen Merritt, Mark Linkous, Jeff Mangnum, Dylan and Skip James coursing through him, and you’re in the diverse neighborhood. With another unsung local act, the Mike Strauss Band. The Evening Muse
