Portland Cello Project, Thursday, June 11: For the Portland Cello Project, collaboration is the name of the game. Over the past few years, the traveling troupe of Portland cellists have created backing tracks for The Builders and The Butchers, Laura Gibson, Loch Lomond and pretty much every other buzzed-about band in the Rose City. The PCP writes few completely original tracks; instead, the 10-cello orchestra works to accompany other musicians live or on record, sometimes rearranging songs in the process. Lately, the ensemble has managed to expand its reach well beyond its eponymous hometown. The PCP signed to Kill Rock Stars last year and is pairing with Thao with the Get Down Stay Down (and a few other bands) on a new record. The combination has created a totally different sound for lead singer Thao Nguyen: A song like Tallymarks is slowed down to an almost lilting pace; Nguyen’s sultry vocals are checked by the cello’s sonic earful. It’s proof that 11 heads can be better than one. Triple Door Mainstage, 216 Union St. 838-4333. 7:30 p.m. $15 adv., $17 dos. All ages. Note by PAIGE RICHMOND

Shellac, Thursday, June 11 and Friday, June 12: Fair or not, most everybody that critiques music in any kind of a public forum is eventually met with retorts along the lines of, aEœYouaE™re probably just bitter because youaE™re a failed songwriteraE or aEœYouaE™re not a musician aE” what qualifies you to talk about music?aE Engineer/producer extraordinaire Steve Albini has skewered plenty of deserving bands over the years aE” both in pieces heaE™s written for various magazines and in interviews heaE™s done aE” but heaE™s made himself immune to the aforementioned attacks because of the completely fucking awesome music heaE™s delivered to the world over two-plus decades via his bands Big Black, Rapeman, and, since 1992, Shellac. A dynamic and forceful trio featuring Albini (guitar/vox), fellow recording engineer Bob Weston (bass/vox), and drummer Todd Trainer, Shellac makes a minimalist but exceptionally potent post-hardcore racket with loud, slicing guitars and a gut-punching rhythm section. Clearly, Albini knows what sounds good. No, you donaE™t have to be a kickass musician aE“ or a musician at all aE“ to offer your opinion, good or bad, about music. But it helps. With Arcwelder.A Vera Project, 305 Harrison. 374-8372. 7:30 p.m. $13. All ages. Note by MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG

Camp Lo, Friday, June 12: The Bronx duo Camp LoaE™s hit single aEœLuchini,aE off their 1999 release Uptown Saturday Night, contains within its celebratory bounce and carefree rhymes a potent danceability aE” and a fucking great hook. aEœThis is it, what?aE If you donaE™t remember that call to the clouds off the top, trust me, if they rock that cut tonight, you will. Thankfully, Camp Lo has other tunes to knock, including those from 2002aE™s LetaE™s Dot It Again, 2007aE™s Black Hollywood, and this yearaE™s Stone and Rob Caught on Tape, which continues Sonny Cheeba and Geechie SuedeaE™s Blacksploitation-style street swagger. ThereaE™s something at once hard and joke-y about Camp Lo, as if theyaE™re rapping about people they know and not themselves. In other words, they take their flows seriously, but not necessarily themselves. Just look at their names. With Fatal Lucciauno, Clockwork, Helladope, DJ Sosa, DJ Marc Sense, Vitamin D. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St. 324-8000. 9:30 p.m. $12 adv. Note by KEVIN CAPP

Noah Gundersen, Friday, June 12: If David Bazan had a long lost little brother aE” one who also played acoustic guitars and sometimes wondered about his relationship with God and the afterlife aE” that young man would probably sound something like Noah Gundersen. Gundersen, who hails from Centralia, echoes some of the technique that made Bazan (of Pedro the Lion fame) one of Seattle’s best songwriters: calm, lilting guitar with thought-provoking lyrics sung in a steady voice. On songs like aEœMiddle of June,aE Gundersen questions the nature of salvation, singing Peace is a ladder up to the clouds/ And I’m wishing I could climb but I don’t know how. But Gundersen’s a less pensive and less solitary musician than Bazan: He tours with his sister, Abby, who plays violin, and a band of other musicians. He’s also a more direct songwriter, addressing a song to Jesus rather than penning a questioning poem about whether Jesus exists. Maybe it’s a product of his youth aE” Gundersen is young aE” but he’s still needs to master the art of nuance. But he’s still ahead of the musical game, because his songs are already heartbreakingly beautiful.A With Garage Voice, Karli Fairbanks, Tom Rorem. Q CafAc, 3223 15th Ave. W. 352-2525. 7:30 p.m. $8. All ages. Note by PAIGE RICHMOND

The Hot Toddies, Friday, June 12: OaklandaE™s Hot Toddies are so retro, smart and sexy, youaE™d think they were Japanese. Where other all-girl rockers like the Donnas choose a tough girl, in-your-faceness, the Hot Toddies get under your skin by saying dirty, dirty things simply, with a cavity-inducing sweetness that makes them not only palpable, but truly tasty. Take their song aEœSeattle,aE a ditty where, in cheeky, barely legal harmonies and the course of two minutes, these ladies manage to rhyme the name of our fair city with the words saddle, paddle, rattle and straddle. Even though they sound matching-outfit, Doris Day, aEœBe My BabyaE pure, these chickies are pushing a hard line feminist agenda. Only instead of shoving it down your throat, they let it surprise you, like a half-chewed piece of bubble gum deposited via a long, wet, kiss. ItaE™s whataE™s in their songs, not their approach, which make them so punk rock, and not out of place on a bill with Pistol purists like the Queers. With the Queers, the Mansfields, Atom Age. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E. 381-3094. 7 p.m. $12 adv., $14 dos. All ages. Note by MAaE™CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR

Art Brut, Saturday, June 13: Though still best known for the wiseacre 2004 anthem aEœFormed a Band,aE thereaE™s plenty more barbs and bile in Art BrutaE™s arsenal of wiry English pop. The bandaE™s recent third album, Art Brut Vs. Satan, was produced by Frank Black with an ear towards the lean and throttling. Still, we donaE™t tune in to Art Brut for the music so much as for singer Eddie ArgosaE™ loving, rascally tirades, which still worriedly dwell on dwindling youth (aEœSummer Job,aE aEœDC Comics and Chocolate MilkshakeaE). Argos also pens odes to his equally serious drinking (aEœMysterious Bruises,aE aEœAlcoholics UnanimousaE) and record collecting (aEœThe Replacements,aE aEœSlap Dash for No Cash,aE aEœWhat a RushaE), spouting bumper-sticker revelations as grist for verse and chorus. Along with so many other young UK bands, Art Brut learned from Pulp how to turn seedy nightlife exploits and morning-after ennui into painfully funny, self-deprecating yarns that also happen to be whip-smart and brutally catchy. With Miike Snow. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St. 709-9467. 8 p.m. $13. All ages. Note by DOUG WALLEN

The Legendary Shack Shakers, Saturday, June 13: Few bands have chosen a moniker more evocative than the Legendary Shack Shakers. While the adjectival end of their name may originally have been wishful thinking, the nominative has helped turn that into a self-fulfilling prophecy. As you may have gathered, the Legendary Shack Shakers exude honky-tonk. Just being in the same room with the band is enough to transport you to a dive bar on the bad side of Nashville, whiskey in hand, ready for a brawl. For the past eight years, the band has been winning over live audiences while gigging alongside such like-minded acts as Hank Williams III and Southern Culture on the Skids. Their latest album, 2009’s Swampblood, is a true-to-form blend of dirty country, renegade blues, murky swamp rock (think CCR gone a bit goth) and gritty, deep-fried punk. Just in case this bathtub brewed libation is a bit strong for your liking, the Shack Shakers are also pretty competent with a nice Southern ballad, but expect that to serve mostly as counterpoint to their standard raucous, blood-and-booze-fueled sonic rampage. With Eugene Wendell, the Demon Rind. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-7416. 8 p.m. $13 adv. Note by NICHOLAS HALL

Crystal Antlers, Sunday, June 14: If you study the recent history of California underground rock, say the last 15 years, youaE™ll spot these four trends: 1) arty farty post-hardcore in all its many guises, from Gravity Records to Total Shutdown and the Locust; 2) the hard psych renaissance spearheaded by Comets on Fire and including megaton jammers Mammatus and Residual Echoes; 3) Zach HillaE™s freak rock cottage industry aE“ aE™nuff said; and 4) vintage lo-fi madness a la No Age and Wavves. Fusing all this stuff into a pan-Californian aesthetic is why Crystal Antlers is wicked-sweet. Plus, the Long Beach outfit writes some wonderfully thrashy pop. When you get the chance, sample the anthem aEœDust,aE off Tentacles, the AntlersaE™ debut full-length, released on Tough & Go. Another chestnut is aEœAndrew.aE It unloads some really sharp hooks. With I Was A King, Hey Marseilles, the Constantines. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St. 709-9467. 8 p.m. $12 adv. Note by JUSTIN F. FARRAR

Thee Oh Sees, Monday, June 15: As if there wasnaE™t enough of the TroggsaE™ crushing riffs and junkyard stomp in Thee Oh SeesaE™ new album Help, aEœMeat Step LivelyaE features a bout of wavering flute. Yes, just like in aEœWild Thing.aE But thataE™s not to say John DwyeraE™s ever-shifting San Francisco band aE“ once known as OCS aE“ doesnaE™t put its own surreal stamp on battered garage and bristling psych. Much more loaded with pop melodies and boy-girl harmonies than last yearaE™s fierce The MasteraE™s Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In, the In The Red-released Help could almost be cuddly enough to score a crossover hit with folks who donaE™t know Vivian Girls from Black Lips. Touring with Jay Reatard canaE™t hurt either. When ReatardaE™s energized legions of fans show up to hear a preview of his upcoming platter Watch Me Fall aE“ due August 18 on Matador aE“ they may instead get a mouthful of overripe, effects-streaked delirium that easily does its heady forebears proud. With Idle Times. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave. 441-7416. 8 p.m. $12. Note by DOUG WALLEN

PJ Harvey, Tuesday, June 16: Perhaps more than anyone in musicaE™s modern era, PJ Harvey has challenged not only our standards of beauty, but also our very definitions of sensuality and power as well. That Harvey has managed to do so in both musical and non-musical terms, seemingly without making any conscious effort, is a testament to her creative dynamism. By now, no one should be fooled by her diminutive stature and insistently gloomy expression, as Harvey walks the razoraE™s edge between raw expression and impeccable finesse. Few can pack a punch with as much beauty and sense of craft aE“ and without going overboard. (Tori Amos and Bjork, take note!) Almost two decades after aEœalternativeaE became a meaningless tag for corporate rock, Harvey continues to embody the original spirit of the term, and she stands without peer in her distinct vision. For this stateside run, she appears with longtime collaborator John Parish on the heels of their new duo album A Woman A Man Walked By, on which Parish provides all of the music while Harvey sticks to singing and lyrics. The Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave. 443-1744. 8 p.m. $36.50 adv., $39 dos. All ages. Note by SABY REYES-KULKARNI

Todd Rundgren, Tuesday, June 16: In a remarkable careerA that stretches back more than 40 years, Todd Rundgren has put his unique stamp on modern music as a singer, songwriter, guitarist (but he can play any instrument), producer, video pioneer, multimedia artist and all-around visionary/innovator, withA roots that run deep to the best of 1960s pop and the Philly soul of his hometown. Tonight’s set is sure toA feature several tunes from 2008’sA Arena, but with a back catalog of over 30 other studio albums, the Toddheads (there’s no such thing as a casual Rundgren fan) in attendance could hear anything aE“from the fuzzed-out ’60s psychedelia of the Nazz (named for a Yardbirds B-side) to Utopia’s ’70s prog-rock and an unparalleled solo output that spans four decades and defies categorization. Then there are the singles: Open My Eyes, Hello It’s Me, Can We Still Be Friends, I Saw The Light, and Love Is The Answer, just to name a few. His crack back-up band includes jazz legend Charlie Haden’s daughter Rachel on bass and two longtime sidemen,A Kasim Sulton, who slides from bass to guitar and keyboards, and ex-Tubes drummer Prairie Prince. Rundgren turns 61 in six days, but his energy and passion put front-men one-third his age to shame. And if you’re saying Didn’t he just play here? you’re right aE“ it’s his third Triple Door show in the past 11 months. With Paul Freeman. Triple Door Mainstage, 216 Union St. 838-4333. 8 p.m. $45. Note by MICHAEL MAHONEY