Wednesday, April 12

Hell Jazz, Kings

In another installment of jazz nether-being Crowmeat Bob’s regular happenings at Kings, we have a fine local ensemble featuring a rarity at these affairs: vocals. Jane Allen Wilson will give the moods and flows of the group a voice, fleshed out by drummer Rob Koegler, Christopher Thurston on double bass, and Crowmeat on reeds. 10 p.m. –CT

Thursday, April 13

Parklife, Stratocruiser, Army of Me, Local 506

I’m not calling Stratocruiser commonplace, as Mike Nicholson’s big, organ-and-guitar pop songs brim with a power that points to a childhood Beatles allegiance and an adolescent love of several Minneapolis pinnacles. It’s uncommonly clean pop. But I will assert that Stratocruiser’s songs have an ear for the commoner’s concerns: The quartet’s love songs about catching crushes and skipping engagements are worthy antidotes for a life of commiseration. Army of Me opens, and Parklife locks her down. $6/10 p.m. –GC

Can Joann, Seven Minute Bender, Kings

What happens when jazz kids forget that Primus is sort of dorky and start listening to June of ’44? A huge, fucked up, totally awesome mess, known to Triangle folk as Seven Minute Bender. Melting genres with the best of ’em, SMB throw wiggling bass lines and spoken word vocals at broken time-signatures and Nintendo song structures. It’s jammy, it’s psychy, and for some reason, it actually works. Just ask WKNC, this show’s loving sponsor. 10:30 p.m. –RM

Friday, April 14

Boxbomb, Farewell, Ravel, The Annuals, The Brewery

I’m either totally wrong or way late in saying this, but there’s a good chance at least one of the four bands on this bill will be famous: Chapel Hill’s blithe six-piece The Annuals just signed to indie big-timer Ace Fu; Greensboro’s Farewell sounds like early Saves the Day (you love it, too) with soul; Durham’s Boxbomb claims Radiohead as a forebear but sounds more like Barre chord modern rock with heavy stateside dissonance. Also, Tennessee’s Ravel. –GC

Saturday, April 15

Patty Hurst Shifter, Raleigh Music Hall

Patty Hurst Shifter, likely by its own admission, isn’t about reinventing the wheel. Rather, it’s about riding the rock ‘n’ roll bus and being the badass in the back that gets the girls and carries not only cigarettes but also several above-grade-level books in a schoolboy satchel. That’s right: Patty Hurst’s stabbing, two-guitar rowdy rock is one of the cool kids on the block, but the band’s playing and J. Chris Smith’s songwriting betray closet smart kids enamored with good writing and better rocking. 10 p.m. –GC

Sunday, April 16

American Princes, Midstates, Can Joann, Local 506

Chicago’s Midstates deal in dazed, lazy-cool euphoria–sort of like Air with more guitars and less, uh, Frenchness. Meanwhile, Yep Roc young guns American Princes amp it to 11 and stick it to the Big Star rock music, totally geeked and huge as hell. On record, their sound is a bit boxy and leashed, but live these guys got some serious pep. A strange pairing, sure. But you can’t spell post-rock without, y’know, rock. $7/9 p.m. –RM

Monday, April 17

The Eastern Seaboard, Kings

Before they made the all-out jump to playing rock clubs like Lincoln Theatre and Kings, early sets at Bickett Gallery from Charlotte’s hauntingly bucolic eight-piece Pyramid always included the possibility of an hour of free-frame noise, temporarily shunning their own terrific songs. I never saw it happen, but I do plan on seeing the Brooklyn trio of ex-pat Pyramid saxophonist Brent Bagwell, who drops Albert Ayler adoration over bass/drums/electronics/reed free jazz with historical reverence and phrasal innovation. Calculated and carefully cacophonous, this is a special group. Crowmeat Bob opens with Carrie Shull, Todd Hershberger, John Mayrose and Chris Eubank.10:30 p.m. –GC

Tuesday, April 18

Half-Handed Cloud, Vollmer, Bowerbirds, Bickett Gallery

Several Sufjan Stevens fans don’t subscribe to the Christianity that he (sometimes subtly) espouses in his lyrics, but they bypass it through the sheer majesty of his songs. No such chance with Half-Handed Cloud, the project of Stevens’ trombonist John Ringhofer. His religious lyrics are ebullient and blunt, praise-and-worship parables and recitations set to Elephant 6-styled pop. But listen closely: Ringhofer’s pragmatic religious views aim more for a better world, rather than a world of believers, and the arrangements are remarkable. Vollmer and Bowerbirds open. 10 p.m. –GC

The Appleseed Cast, Aloha, Victory at Sea, Wetlands

Reality check: After Tigerstyle Records dissolved in 2004, and The Appleseed Cast’s longtime drummer called it quits, Aaron Pillar–guitarist for the Lawrence, Kan. quartet–was scrubbing toilets for a living. This spring, however, things are a bit different for the Cast, who’ve recently re-emerged with a new drummer, a new label and a new record. Peregrine, the band’s seventh studio album, is grown-up emo at its absolute finest. And I’m pretty sure touring behind it beats the hell out of scrubbing toilets. $8/9 p.m.–RM