Vivian Girls, Thursday, April 30: Brooklyn guitar-rock group Vivian Girls has a no-skills sound, something you donaE™t nail down so much as try on, and get by on aEœa certain chemistry.aE The bandaE™s shitty rock jaunts might soundtrack flirty fun, a killer high school movie montage, or any random bikes-in-the-kitchen Central District house party taking an unexpected turn for the fun. Or Neumos. ThereaE™s a twist: When a few girls sing at the same time, and through a car wash of reverb, their voices ring and chime. Not exactly the band the world needs most. DoesnaE™t matter. An aura is created, and the aura is bitchy/bored. With Abe Vigoda, the Girls. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $12. Note by ANDREW MATSON

Coffins, Thursday, April 30: In a 2004 interview, Coffins guitarist/vocalist and Tokyo-scene grindcore veteran Uchino explained his groupaE™s plodding, fuzz-smothered sound: aEœI felt fatigue for playing in fast band.aE CoffinsaE™ high-viscosity doom rumbles like an engine that left the lot in 1996 (the year of the trioaE™s formation) and hasnaE™t had a tune-up since: The sludge build-up is astonishing. But while the bungee-plunge tunings and UchinoaE™s thunderous grunts remain constant, Coffins incorporates some unique wrinkles, like the surf-punk solo that slices through aEœDeadly Sinners.aE Coffins embarked on its first overseas tour exactly a year ago, and while this return engagement is most welcome, future sojourns from Japan shouldnaE™t be taken for granted. For people who like buying gory T-shirts at metal shows, Coffins delivers gnarly horror-movie-inspired merch. Others will leave with a subtler souvenir, having been slathered in filmy sonic crust. With Stormcrow, Skarp, Grey. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E., 381-3094. 7:30 p.m. $12. All ages. Note by ANDREW MILLER

Ghost, Friday, May 1: I donaE™t know whoaE™s responsible for introducing LSD to the Japanese, but IaE™m glad they did. A collective of like-minded musicians, Ghost play free-range psychedelia. Under their cosmic spell, genre boundaries dissipate into thin air (picture Amon Duul, Blue Cheer, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Floyd, and the Velvets all hanging out in the ruins of ancient Buddhist temples). Playing off our Western obsession with the aEœmysteries of the OrientaE, Ghost does not often tour, nor does the group record much. Thus, when it does, it feels monumental, as with 2007aE™s In Stormy Nights. Reveling in the act of creation, Ghost can shift from medieval wistfulness to sky-melting ferocity, the music aspiring for the heavens as the musicians attempt to steer it back to earth. Sharing the bill is our own psychedelic genre-smasher, Six Organs of Admittance (AKA Ben Chasny), who has recently completed a new record with West Seattle-based producer Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Earth) Chasny says heaE™s eyeing an August release date for the new jams, but itaE™s a good bet you can catch a preview or two tonight. The Crocodile, 2200 2nd Ave. 8 p.m. $12. Note by BRIAN J. BARR

The Tea Cozies, Friday, May 1: ItaE™s natural to expect bouncy, upbeat pop music from a band with an adorable name like the Tea Cozies, and the bandaE™s brand-new record Hot ProbsaE”produced by local pop music savant Erik BloodaE”delivers just that. But while bright ditties like Pretty Pages and Corner Store Girls share a lot in common with the sweet, summery songs Michigan band Saturday Looks Good To Me does so well (aEœUnderwater HeartbeataE comes to mind), the Tea Cozies arenaE™t all cotton candy and rainbows. Numbers like Huffy Walrus start out like a cleaned-up Bikini Kill demo, with screaming vocals and lots of distortion. But the band doesnaE™t sustain that hard edge; later on, the song breaks out into a chorus of aEœoh ah ohs,aE a shtick thataE™s just about as pop as it gets. ItaE™s a deliberate, exciting juxtaposition that proves the Tea CoziesaE™ three founding ladies (and their lone bass-playing gentleman) know exactly what theyaE™re doing. With Katharine HepburnaE™s Voice, the Ironclads. High Dive, 513 N. 36th, 632-0212. 9 p.m. $7. Note by SARA BRICKNER

SportinaE™ Life vs. Focused Noise, Saturday, May 2: TonightaE™s show features mano-y-mano performances between MCs from SeattleaE™s SportinaE™ Life Records and PortlandaE™s Focused Noise Records. The show is divided into three sets that include the revolutionary-minded Mic Crenshaw (Focused) versus the party-minded Spaceman (SportinaE™), and, for the nightaE™s closer, hipster troublemakers Animal Farm versus the imposing, Biggie-esque D. Black. The highlight, however, may just be the opening joust pitting Serge Severe against Fatal LucciaunoaE”but not because of the controversy surrounding local rapper LucciaunoaE™s recent boot off the Dyme Def show roster at the Croc. Rather, itaE™s because Severe and Lucciauno have near-dichotomous styles. Both serve heavy doses of swagger, but SevereaE™s centers on a jazzy-funky sensibility, while Lucciauno is pure street. Let the battle(s) begin. High Dive, 513 N. 36th, 632-0212. 9 p.m., $8. Note by KEVIN CAPP

Leo Kottke, Saturday, May 2: ItaE™s an unfortunate state of affairs when oneaE™s strengths are also the source of oneaE™s impediment. For Leo Kottke, the willingness to extend himself in many different directions, elastically incorporating a dizzying variety of musical styles into what still manages to be a singular and signature sound, has kept his music a relative secret. A man of such virtuosic talent should be widely considered a national treasure, rather than marginalized as a cult hero to those in the particular aEœknow.aE Unfortunately, much of the record buying public wants to know what theyaE™re getting before they heart it, with a neat little label applied, and thataE™s just not possible with Kottke. Once you hear Leo Kottke, with his powerful, graceful fingerpicking style and self-described aEœgeese farts on a muggy dayaE vocals, you will forever recognize his music, yet be hard-pressed to accurately describe or categorize it, and therein lies the rub. Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 S Washington, Olympia. 360-753-8586. 8 p.m. $30-$45. All ages. Note by NICHOLAS HALL

BellRays, Sunday, May 3: Even if itaE™s partially true, CaliforniaaE™s BellRays aE“ the core of which is the married duo of singer Lisa Kekaula and guitarist Bob Vennum aE“ hate, hate, hate it when you say theyaE™re aEœlike the MC5 fronted by Tina Turner.aE Fair enough, since their furious and delectable garage-rock aE™n soul is infused with the grit, hooks, and passion of so many other classic acts from the annals of punk, Motown, and aE™70s arena-rock. Too many to name here, but whataE™s important is: 1) That the quartet has distilled those influences into a sound and vibe they can rightfully call their own, and 2) TheyaE™re one of the most blazing, swaggering, soulful live acts youaE™ll ever experience. KekaulaaE™s enormous aE™fro and even bigger voice tangles with VennumaE™s explosive riffs, and in tandem with the rhythm sectionaE™s righteous wallop, the BellRays can kick out the jams with the best of aE˜em. With the Boss Martians, the DevliaE™s Club, Stone Axe, the Knast. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E., 381-3094. 8 p.m., $8 adv., $10 dos. Note by MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG

Eligh and the Grouch, Sunday, May 3: Along with their fellow Living Legends crew members, Eligh and the Grouch have played pivotal roles in the development and dissemination of an underground West Coast sound that emphasized the hip in hip-hop. They ground the more goofy gangstas into a fine powder and huffed and puffed them away with a fun-loving style that combined Cali’s funkadelic production with lyrical odes to independence, both as soloists and a duo. (See the GrouchaE™s aE™08 Show You the World for a recent solo example.) Their third disc, Say G&E!, released April 24, continues this proud tradition. The spaced-out title track recalls OutkastaE™s ATLiens punctuated with low-rider cool, as does the even more interstellar aEœCominaE™ Up,aE though it has a far more serious tone befitting such an important outfit. With Afro Classics. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $15. Note by KEVIN CAPP

Marianne Dissard, Sunday, May 3: French singer/lyricist Marianne Dissard says that all of her songs start out as lullabies (she pronounces it lool-a-byes) aEœuntil we put them in the suitcase and they become something else.aE For listeners familiar with DissardaE™s debut album, laE™entredeux, the songs actually start out as a hybrid of Americana and traditional cabaret/chanson (French vocal-oriented lounge) music, outfitted in dense, jazzy arrangements courtesy of CalexicoaE™s Joey Burns, who also wrote all the music. The racy video for aEœLes Draps Sourds,aE which begins with a couple having sex in a bed and adds a new person to the mix every few minutes, works as a fitting metaphor for the music itself. In concert, however, Dissard and her backing band (which now includes violin, bass, guitar, and drums) shake off the elegant reserve of the album for a rowdier, more driving approach that still retains traces of its jazzy roots. Dissard herself manages to be fiesty, quick-witted, and self-effacing all once, dropping lighthearted quips like aEœTim HortonaE™s are my bitchesaE between songs. With French singing unfairly consigned as either kitsch, passing trend, or both, Dissard manages to avoid novelty par excellence. As she channels the American West through a French-vocal lens, she makes both forms fit as if they were always meant for each other, and arguably even re-invents them both. Perhaps her work is so convincing because Dissard has a rightful claim to both forms after having grown up in France and Arizona. Perhaps itaE™s because sheaE™s just a damn good time. With Shane Tutmarc, Andrew Colberg. Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 323-9853. 9 p.m., $6. Note by SABY REYES-KULKARNI

Rocco DeLuca, Tuesday, May 5: The touchstones are clear. Rocco DeLuca is fond of Led Zeppelin, and finds footholds in the same hard-blues that Jack White has turned into a career of reductive reinterpretation. DeLuca is not just an amalgam of his influences, though, offering uncommon interpretations on common themes. DeLucaaE™s sound resides somewhere between the soil and the sky; his frequent use of dobro highlights the push and pull of earthy and ethereal, paring its steely sound against the haunting effect of sinewy slide work. DeLucaaE™s rhythm section, The Burden, keep the songs driving forward with a feel thataE™s not quite rhythm and blues, not quite rock & roll, and DeLucaaE™s vocals capably handle a range of dynamics and moods, feeling just as steady in tortured howls as in subtle crooning, proving DeLuca as capable and engaging a singer as any of his contemporaries. Though cries of cribbing are a given, DeLuca rises deftly beyond his influences, even as his music openly announces them. What more can we ask? With Joshua James.. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $15. All ages. Note by NICHOLAS HALL