1. Twin Peaks
Friday, Oct. 9 @ 40 Watt Club
Don’t expect moody Angelo Badalamenti flourishes here, only sun-soaked garage-pop. These Chicago miscreants have set up shop on the national indie rock scene on the strength of a ferocious live show and a couple of solid, hook-filled LPs, including last year’s Wild Onion.
2. Toro y Moi
Wednesday, Oct. 7 @ Georgia Theatre
Toro y Moi has evolved from a one-man bedroom-synth project to a funk-dappled psych-pop full band. The group’s recent, must-spin release, What For?, evokes MGMT at that group’s melodic best, but without all the smarm.
3. Guts Club
Saturday, Oct. 10 @ Caledonia Lounge
The brainchild of New Orleans singer-songwriter Lindsey Baker, Guts Club plays sparse, psychically resonant outsider-folk. On wonderful, terrifying songs like “Weird Boat,” Baker’s barebones acoustic fingerpicking abuts fractured vocals that seem to stick around long after they’re gone.
4. Pop. 1280
Friday, Oct. 9 @ Caledonia Lounge
The music of this self-styled Brooklyn “cyberpunk” outfit is equal parts free-noise and post-punk, calling to mind Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and company’s skewed mid-‘80s transmissions. This is a stacked bill: Don’t miss former Athenians Bambara, whose upcoming Swarm threatens to one-up the band’s near-perfect 2013 industrial-punk opus, Dreamviolence.
5. Eureka California
Saturday, Oct. 10 @ 40 Watt Club
As usual, there are a ton of great locals playing AI, but let’s get real: You can catch most of ‘em every other week. Two-piece duo Eureka California deserves special mention for having honed its manic-panic garage-rock assault to a frightening degree. Expect to hear songs from the group’s upcoming UK-recorded album.
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