Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All/Wednesday, April 11

Odd Future have endured some awkward growing pains over the past couple of years: the long-absent Earl Sweatshirt’s exile (at a Samoan boarding school, it turned out); a disappointing solo debut from de facto crew leader Tyler; a media all too willing to be predictably shocked by the group’s obvious shock-tactic trolling. They’ve emerged into relative (in Earl’s case, literal) adulthood in 2012 with the Loiter Squad TV show (aka “Something for Jasper and Taco to Do”), the well-received new O.F. Tape, Vol. 2, and its jubilant 10-minute posse-cut video for “Oldie.” Oh, and free Earl. Expect tonight to be a cartoonishly offensive celebration. Showbox SoDo, 1700 First Ave. S., 652-0444. 8 p.m. $30 adv./$35 DOS. All ages. ERIC GRANDY

Champagne Champagne/Thursday, April 12

Champagne Champagne’s new EP Private Party opens with a tremolo guitar shimmer and a live-band backbeat before MCs Pearl Dragon and Thomas Gray take to the mikes to rap about the apocalypse as a metaphorical motivation for carpeing each and every diem. It’s an odd sentiment for a band as seemingly indestructible as Champagne Champagne, but then the trio (rounded out by producer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Gajadhar) has always followed its own odd muse to unpredictable ends, from party rap to electro to some real borderline rap-rock. Speaking of indestructible, Pearl recently survived second- and third-degree burns in a house fire in his apartment; as they say in Westeros, fire cannot kill the Dragon. With Deadkill, DJ Radjaw. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $12. ERIC GRANDY

Elvis Costello & the Imposters/Thursday, April 12

It could be argued that there’s no more versatile veteran performer in popular music than Elvis Costello. He can steer an entire show purely toward the pensive, punk, or podunk, depending on his mood. But when he announces he’ll be touring with a Wheel of Fortune–style apparatus that lets audience members spin for songs, as he and his band will do tonight, attendees are sure to appreciate the spectacular breadth of this living legend’s talent. Indoor fireworks, even. The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 467-5510. 8 p.m. $35.75–$75.75. All ages. MIKE SEELY

Bear in Heaven/Friday, April 13

Last winter the Brooklyn electro-psych-rock trio discovered the most annoying way possible to preview their new record—stretching the songs over a 2,709-hour stream. Now that those four months are up, I Love You, It’s Cool—the follow-up to 2009’s excellent Beast Rest Forth Mouth—has hit the airwaves in its true form, sounding about a thousand times more pleasing than the preview. That little joke, though, may fit with the tone of the new record, which sounds lighter and giddier than the band’s previous material, thanks to its quickened tempos, blissful walls of synth, and upbeat, skyward vocals. With Doldrums, Blouse. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-4618. 8 p.m. $10. ERIN K. THOMPSON

Counting Crows/Friday, April 13

Covers albums, and live albums re-creating a band’s biggest record, aren’t typically made by artists who are peaking creatively. And that’s exactly the netherland where Counting Crows has found itself, having released August and Everything After—Live at Town Hall last year, and a covers record, Underwater Sunshine, on Tuesday. Somewhere between 1999’s This Desert Life and 2002’s Hard Candy, the band lost its way and tried to fit in among the shallow radio-pop offerings of the day. They cut a dreadful cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” with Vanessa Carlton, and even hit the road with John Mayer and a then-unknown band called Maroon 5. Counting Crows were always at their best when they weren’t trying to be anything but themselves—like in 1993, when they owned grunge-dominated radio with a straight-ahead, Americana-based rock record called August and Everything After. With Mean Creek. Showbox SoDo, 1700 First Ave. S., 652-0444. 8:30 p.m. Sold out. CHRIS KORNELIS

Foxy Shazam/Saturday, April 14

Cincinnati funk rockers Foxy Shazam have clear retro influences—musicians like Queen and Meat Loaf—but they take their wild-child attitude and razor-sharp lyric writing from a more contemporary school of spastic rockers like At the Drive-In and Man Man. Their latest album, this year’s The Church of Rock and Roll, continues to ride their amped-up shtick all the way to the bank with rocking-ass songs that beg to be ripped up live. With Maniac, Cadaver Dogs, Just Like Vinyl. Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., 956-8372. 7 p.m. $12. All ages. TODD HAMM

***EDITOR’S PICK

Jeff Mangum/Monday, April 16–Tuesday, April 17

We may never know what caused Jeff Mangum to resurface in the public eye after years and years of ducking under the radar, refusing interviews, and releasing next to no new music. The infamous recluse’s second coming began a little over a year ago with a few shows on the East Coast (including a surprise appearance in October at Zuccotti Park) and the release of some Neutral Milk Hotel rarities and a vinyl-only box set; this year he’s even embarking on a lengthy U.S. and European tour. Altogether he’s fit more activities into one year than he had into the past 10 combined. But when miracles happen, we don’t question them. In this case, there’s no time to—when we blink next, he might be gone again. The Moore, 1932 Second Ave., 467-5510. 8 p.m. $32.50. All ages. ERIN K. THOMPSON

Metal Monday/Monday, April 16

Metal Monday is the 2 Bit Saloon’s weekly celebration of black leather, cheap beer, and tunes that kill. This week’s installment is a real doozy. Local favorites Scorched-Earth, Divinorum, and Cemetery Lust are prepared for battle, all well-equipped with the growling and wailing vocals, roaring guitars, and thunderous bass and drums that make this regular night a magnet for Seattle’s headbanging metalheads. For only $5, how could one resist? 2 Bit Saloon, 4818 17th Ave. N.W., 708-6917. 9 p.m. $5. LAURA SWARTZ