In this week's Stranger Suggests, Dave Segal draws attention to Shellac's performance at the Vera Project:

Shellac, Arcwelder

Shellac frontman Steve Albini is one of those sharp-witted curmudgeons who's always seemed older than his years. Now he's nearly 47, and it doesn't seem odd that he still cranks out Mensa-level tough-guy rock that's as tense as a Mexican standoff. Shellac—which also includes drummer Todd Trainer and bassist Bob Weston—has wrenched out five riveting albums of immaculately analog-recorded dissonance and white-knuckled dynamics. Go for the tightly executed molten rock; stay for the barbed between-song witticisms. (Vera Project, Seattle Center, 956-8372. 7:30 pm, $13/$12 with club card, all ages.)

Cylob plays at the Re-bar tonight with other electronic music performers, as featured in Data Breaker:

Erictronic, Citizen Mor, Naturebot, Cylob, Hecate, Cursed Chimera

What makes Cylob's productions stand out from the teeming IDM geekosphere? It's a combination of incredibly strange textures, manically funky rhythms, and a wacky sense of humor that usually doesn't annoy (his attempts at throwback electro, replete with Stephen Hawking throat-box vocals, however, smack of broad parody). Cylob's more recent works hone the sublimely quirky electro he cultivated in the '90s into less manic but no less scintillating listening experiences, even if I will miss the lubricious likes of "Smack 'Em Up Sharp" and "Cum to Me Baby."

And from this week's Up & Comings:

No Age

(Triple Door) Tonight, as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, L.A. noise punks No Age will perform an original, never before heard score for Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1988 film The Bear. All I remember about this movie is the scene where the orphaned baby bear eats a psychedelic mushroom and everything starts to look like it's coming through a prism or a kaleidoscope. No Age should really have some fun with that one. But given their facility with distressed, color-bleeding ambiences, tension-building guitar loops, and balls-out rhythmic racket, they should have no problem scoring the whole film in high style. ERIC GRANDY

Secret Guests, The Whore Moans, Speaker Speaker, Wallpaper, The Greatest Hits and the Raggedy Anns

(Underground Events Center) The Underground Events Center is too finished to really feel like a basement, but for tonight, let's pretend that it's exactly that. Should be easy enough—with no windows or doors to open, the show will be hot and sweaty and loud enough to boil the wax in your ears (ew). Therefore, it will be awesome. The Whore Moans are messy, fast, and fun rock and roll with some blues, punk, and seizures thrown in for texture. Speaker Speaker aren't nearly that gnarly, but they have moved away from the bright pop that they started with, instead going down a darker, more (wonderfully) aggressive path. (Similar to how 24 Hour Revenge Therapy compares to Dear You, maybe, but with fewer bum-outs.) MEGAN SELING

Grand Archives, See Me River and The Curious Mystery

(Crocodile) Grand Archives play tonight's Noise for the Needy benefit on the heels of what looks like one hell of a European tour with Wooden Birds. Not sure if their travels will result in them breaking out any new material tonight, but I do know that every time that Mat Brooke and company sing the word "terrified" on their album-opening "Torn Blue Foam Couch," I feel gently lifted. Seriously, go listen to that song again if you haven't in a while. It is a motherfucking solid. See Me River are a folk ensemble led by the dour baritone of Kerry Zettel; they sound like they all basically live in a dark, cavernous basement tavern (oh, wait). Their song "Don't Pray for Blood" is a perfect mix of rousing and doomed. The Curious Mystery's best country-tinged songs go beyond mere melancholy into full-blown narcotic nod, only to come alive again via some seriously rocking rhythms. ERIC GRANDY

Remember to check our online music calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.