Islands This Montreal sextet, born from the ashes of experimentalist indie faves The Unicorns, started off promisingly in 2006 with wildly inclusive debut that featured everything from twang to calypso and rap. But their Anti- debut Arm's Way has been getting mixed reviews, mostly for abandoning the band's kitchen sink approach for a more unified indie pop sound that's nowhere near as playful. Live, though, the band is said to tear shit up. With AWOL and Crayonsmith. Neighborhood Theatre. (John Schacht)
Hammerlock Cali's redneck punk rockers, led by good ol' boy and good ol' gal couple Travis (guitar, vocals) and Liza Kenney (bass, vocals), have been trouncing crowds with their Southern-fried sleaze rock since forming in the unlikely, decidedly un-Southern burb of San Francisco in the mid-'90s. Somewhere in Bay Area Southern rock had a head on collision with metal and punk to sprout Hammerlock. Also on the bill: The Flat Tires and Deviltones. Milestone (Samir Shukla)