DJ Marky / Wednesday, June 23
Tyson Wirtzfield
Dum Dum Girls: Like a hotter, more legal Runaways.
Nicolas Hidiroglou
Funky time with Femi Kuti.
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The last time I saw Marky, at the (now-defunct) War Room, the place was packed with beautiful bodies sweating it out to the Brazilian DJ's edgily up-tempo style of drum 'n' bass. The sense of communal joy was so high that a stranger kissed me on the dance floor—now that's a party. Discovered by V Recordings' Bryan Gee back in '98, Marco Antonio Silva has been known for his energetic scratching and his smiling face ever since. His recent The Kings of Drum + Bass, compiled and mixed with the legendary 4Hero, is a lesson in everything you never knew the genre had: particularly, sunshine and soul. With Kid Hops, SunTzu Sound. Neumo's, 1122 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $15. RACHEL SHIMP
A Place to Bury Strangers / Wednesday, June 23
A Place to Bury Strangers promises total sonic annihilation and doesn't mess around about following through. Touring on their sophomore effort Exploding Head, the Brooklyn trio, led by effects-pedal wizard Oliver Ackermann, rides a fierce wave of distorted guitar insanity. But that's not to say songwriting is cut out as compensation; some songs approach a Cure-like level of shadowy pop. A national headlining tour is a big step for a band that signed their first contract on a napkin with a label called Killer Pimp Records. They may not be the first to draw on the '80s and '90s noise scene, but you don't become known as "The Loudest Band in New York" for nothing. With Light Pollution, Grave Babies, the Globes. Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., 956-8372. 7:30 p.m. $11. All ages. NICK FELDMAN
The Purrs / Thursday, June 24
The Purrs' latest effort, Tearing Down Paisley Garden, is a fantastic piece of mellow rock and roll, replete with disaffected cynicism and judiciously distorted guitar solos in which each note melts into the next. The dejected lyrics flirt with hopelessness, but the album is buoyed by pop hooks and self-aware sparks of deliberately hyperbolic humor that culminates with album closer "Always Something in My Way": "Please send all my mail to outer space/That's my new place...Everything I loved turned to dust." It's the kind of album that will speak most keenly to people experiencing existential crises, emotional fallout, or loss of ambition. With Brent Amaker and the Rodeo, Battle Hymns. Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-7416. 8 p.m. $8. SARA BRICKNER
The Cops / Friday, June 25
Drew Church, beloved bassist of the beloved, long-absent, thrashing, Clash-loving Cops, tells me that after a year and a half off, the band has resolved their artistic differences. And they still hang out all the time anyway. So they're back to celebrate the Sunset's 10th anniversary with their first show since calling it quits, not counting some Christmas show they played (or something...Church can't remember the details). He promises that besides playing some old standards, the Cops will also be debuting a few songs. And Drew Church wouldn't lie to me. Oh yeah, the Catheters are back together too. With the Catheters, the Tripwires, the Basements, DJ Danger Nun. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880. 9 p.m. $12/$10 with food donation. ERIN K. THOMPSON
Giant Squid / Friday, June 25
Tonight's quadruple bill at the Comet is probably one of the year's most thoughtfully stacked lineups. Helms Alee continue to win new fans at every turn with their Pixies-meets-Melvins assault, while Lozen (fronted by Helms Alee drummer Hojozi Matheson-Margullis) is an increasingly electrifying drum and guitar duo made of equal parts crystalline shrieks and thunder-footed rumble. Dog Shredder snaps necks and induces smiles with agile, aggressive math-metal, and Giant Squid were kind enough to swim up from the Bay Area for the occasion, bringing an artful heaviness that gains ethereal levity thanks to the alluring presence of knockout cellist Jackie Perez Gratz. Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 323-9853. 9 p.m. $8. HANNAH LEVIN
Portugal. The Man / Friday, June 25
It's high time that poor Wasilla, Alaska—hometown of the trashiest family in American politics—got some non-Palin-related spotlight. The experimental quartet Portugal. The Man hails from there (though they're now based in Portland), and just released their major-label (Atlantic) debut, American Ghetto. The songs are fresh, intricate, and radio-friendly all at once, with booming electronic beats and jazzy electric-guitar riffs. The record's receiving unequivocal praise across the blogosphere for its sharp, catchy sound, and the band's spent this year on a high-profile tour, including stops at Coachella and Bonnaroo. So fuck you, Levi Johnston! With The Builders and the Butchers, Morning Teleportation. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $15. All ages. ERIN K. THOMPSON
Dum Dum Girls / Saturday, June 26
If the Ronettes or the Shangri-Las had picked up some guitars and written their own songs back in the '60s, they might have had as much badass personality as the Dum Dum Girls. This scuzzy garage-pop quartet—Dee Dee, Jules, Bambi, and Sandy Vu—released their debut record, I Will Be, this year, and it's a knockout. Though Dee Dee's got a strikingly dusky voice, and though the record's first two singles, "Jail La La" and "Bhang Bhang, I'm a Burnout," are about prison and drugs, respectively, the songs' fuzzy guitar textures, tuneful harmonies, and rapid pace boost them to a jubilant level—the music fairly bursts with authority and light. With Crocodiles, DJ Mario Orduno. High Dive, 513 N. 36th St., 632-0212. 9 p.m. $10 adv./$12 DOS. ERIN K. THOMPSON
