From Up & Coming:

Kevin Seconds, James Hunnicutt, Jefferson Death Star, Simon and Go Fuck Yourself, the Drama Montage

(El Corazón) Dear every dude to ever front a punk-rock band: STOP GETTING OLD AND PLAYING INTROSPECTIVE ACOUSTIC SINGER-SONGWRITER BULL- SHIT. This time, it's Kevin Seconds of 7Seconds. Like many of his contemporaries (Chuck Ragan, Tim Barry, Ben Nichols, Tony Sly, etc.), Mr. Seconds has traded in the stage dives and high fives for banjo-laced songs more suitable for campfire sing-alongs. I get it. It's the next logical step. You don't want to give up music, but the old bones aren't letting you thrash around a stage like you did in '85. And you certainly don't want to look a fool like Mike Ness (who's still singing about being mommy's little monster at the age of 48??), but YAWN, dudes. I'm bored. Let's rock! MEGAN SELING

John Roderick

(Triple Door) Recently, John Roderick appeared at a group reading at the Sorrento Hotel. Roderick read from his book—he's the author of a small, funny collection of Twitter posts, titled Electric Aphorisms—and played a few songs. Unlike the awkwardness of most readings with musical elements, Roderick's songs fit right into the scene: His songwriting is thoughtful, intelligent, and austere enough to easily work in a reading atmosphere. But if you put him in a good music venue like the Triple Door, he's funny, dramatic, and skilled enough to make an audience of hundreds stay riveted in their seats. That easy transition—from intimate intellectual venues to giant rooms, maintaining the same level of sincerity and craftsmanship in both—is why I'm a die-hard Roderick fan. PAUL CONSTANT

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

(Seattle City Hall Plaza, noon) Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band have outsize hustle and ambitions—and not a little talent, too, which is always appreciated. Picked by Alternative Press as one of "100 Bands You Need to Know" in 2009 and recipients of a thumbs-uppy feature in SPIN, the Seattle quartet appear destined to commandeer stages at large festivals and place songs in blockbuster Hollywood flicks. On their sophomore release for respected indie label Dead Oceans, Where the Messengers Meet, MSHVB come off as a more refined, less psychedelic Wild Orchid Children. Mt. St. Helens' grandiloquently melodious and rhythmically boisterous songs manage to swell to fill Grand Canyon—sized spaces without sounding all U2-ish about it. At a time of epidemic indie-rock underachieving, MSHVB's towering aspirations and maximalist song structures deserve respect. DAVE SEGAL

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