Let’s rank the top five coolest lo-fi rockers of the last, say, five years: 1) Ariel Pink 2) Kurt Vile 3) Sic Alps 4) Pink Reason and 5) Wavves. It’s a real toss up between Pink and Vile – both are just great. But Ariel is a bit more psychedelic in a Skip Spence/psychotic kind of way. Plus, his tune “West Coast Calamities,” off 2005’s House Arrest, contains one of the most audacious lines in recent memory: “I want a chick who puts up with my shit and puts out.” Probably the best thing about Pink is how he’s turned into a touring juggernaut. A lot of lo-fi studs suck at live shows, but not this guy. His band Haunted Graffiti are serious punch-the-clock rockers – kind of like the Cruisers, only different.

Fri., March 20, 7 p.m., 2009