Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, the Hive Dwellers, the Sea Navy

(Neumos) The Brutalist Bricks is the best album Ted Leo and the Pharmacists have released in years—it's huge power pop laced with soul, punk, and ska. Delivered with Leo's humor and contagious energy, these new, guitar-driven songs will no doubt sound fan-fucking-tastic live. My fingers are crossed that he steps away from his own catalog, if only for a moment, as he also does righteous versions of tunes by Chumbawamba (no, not that song), Springsteen, and Thin Lizzy. With the Hive Dwellers and the Sea Navy. MEGAN SELING

Maceo Parker

(Jazz Alley) Maceo Parker has blown gusts of ribald genius into saxes for James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Prince, and many other music-biz luminaries. Many came to know Parker through his "I Be Blowin'" cameo on hiphop giants De La Soul's Buhloone Mindstate. Parker has gone on to have a long solo career while guesting on records by Jane's Addiction, Material, Deee-Lite, and others. Even at 67, Parker can still harness the soul and funk that made him a legend in those styles, although the material of his later years doesn't stack up to his prime era as a sideman (not much does, really). Expect an epic rendition of "Pass the Peas," many Ray Charles covers, and other deathless cuts. DAVE SEGAL

The Green Pajamas, the Drug Purse, Blue Horns

(Sunset) It's a telling metaphor about the Green Pajamas' status in Seattle that, while preparing to write this blurb, I couldn't find their latest CD anywhere at home or at work. Even though they've been making gorgeous psych pop for 26 years, they remain bafflingly under most people's radars. If you're a fan of deftly composed, baroquely arranged pop with subliminal nudges into altered states of consciousness, you owe it to yourself to explore the Green Pajamas' hefty catalog. Tacoma quintet the Drug Purse evoke the, um, druggier side of the Byrds' sun-kissed, California psychedelia and the disheveled, opiated ramble of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Portland's Blue Horns offer peppy, hooky rock that urgently urges you to have a good time. DAVE SEGAL

Pendulum, N-Type, Flave, Aaron Simpson

(Showbox at the Market) N-Type (British producer/DJ Mark Newton) deals in the sort of heavy, menacing dubstep that, when you hear it, makes you feel about 20 times tougher than you actually are—which partially explains his popularity. He combines brute sonic strength with an aptitude for tense atmospheres that seep into your synapses rather than bludgeon your dome. N-Type is also skilled and connected enough to release mixes via the revered Rinse and Dubstep Allstars franchises. His taste is unfuckwithable. Australia's Pendulum fuse rock bombast to drum 'n' bass bombast, but all that bombast ends up being not the bomb but just ass. Stadium jungle played by a live band sounds grand in theory, but as practiced by Pendulum, it piles up into a mountain of cheese. DAVE SEGAL

And there's always more in our complete music calendar listings.