Pizza Fest 2012: Shannon and the Clams, the Yolks, White Wires, Golden Pelicans, King Lollipop, the Biz, Grave Babies, Wrong Words
(Funhouse) See preview.

oOoOO, Magic Fades, Nightmare Fortress, Rxch Wxtch, Ozma Otacava
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests.

Substrata 2.1
(Chapel Performance Space) See Data Breaker.

Hounds of the Wild Hunt, Hobosexual, Strong Killings, Lonesome Shack
(Columbia City Theater) Why should places like New Jersey have the market cornered on proletariat rock? Springsteen and Titus Andronicus both strike out from the Garden State with a workingman's viewpoint and brawny guitar noise that's not afraid to admit that life isn't always a cakewalk (only they don't get all whiny about it cough Social Distortion cough). Thankfully, we've got Hounds of the Wild Hunt, whose latest, El Mago, is another slab of gloriously anthemic, sing-along gnash-and-yowl. Tonight's the record-release show, in their homeland venue, and the Hounds are absolutely enthralling live. After all the shit that's gone on between this album and the last, I expect the proceedings to be spectacular. GRANT BRISSEY See also Sound Check.

Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Cracker
(Marymoor Park) What I want to discuss is not the Barenaked Ladies (a Canadian pop band that had a moment in the sun in the late '90s), nor the tune that made the band famous and rich, "One Week," but one line in the tune "One Week": "I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral." Let's think about this for a moment: What kind of guy laughs at a funeral? How is this guy different from one who, say, cries at a funeral? And exactly how does this guy laugh at a funeral? Is his a mocking laugh ("ha, ha, you lose")? Or is it a phony laugh, a laugh with no mirth or meanness—a laugh that laughs. Or is it a laugh that booms from the belly ("HA! HA! HA! HA!")? Indeed, what kind of guy laughs at a funeral? CHARLES MUDEDE

Whitney Ballen, Winnebago, Timothy Robert Graham
(Rat and Raven) I can't stop, won't stop listening to Winnebago's recently released EP, Early Morning. The local band's guitar-heavy pop songs are uncomplicated and breezy, just like the perfect summer day. Guitar flutters around as delicately as butterfly wings and harmonies drift in and out like the clouds that break up the blue sky. I know that sounds a bit flowery, but it's true. Early Morning is lovely. It's available for free at www.winnebagomusic.bandcamp.com, so now you can listen to it over and over again, too. MEGAN SELING

No Depression Night: Shovels & Rope, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, Legendary Oaks, Fly Moon Royalty, DJ El Toro
(Mural Amphitheatre) No Depression and KEXP have joined up to present some great folky talent. Shovels & Rope hailing from Charleston, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside from Portland, and locals Legendary Oaks all take a creative approach to playing in the American roots tradition. For a different kind of Americana, we have Seattle hiphop duo Fly Moon Royalty, who I hear absolutely killed it on "Baby Got Back" at the CHBP. The show is free, all ages, with a beer garden for the over-21 folks, all starting at 5:30 p.m. A perfect outdoor summer evening awaits. GILLIAN ANDERSON

Mynabirds, Deep Time
(Barboza) Deep Time are one of my new favorite bands! I can't believe I waited so long to listen to them. Their self-titled album is the official summer soundtrack for me dancing around my house with a guinea pig in each hand. Mixing just the right amount of pop melody with weird, succinct rhythms, this Austin duo (Jennifer Moore and Adam Jones) makes extremely catchy music that seems familiar, yet doesn't really sound like anything else. This whole album got lodged in my head on repeat after one listen—a welcome exchange for the Justin Bieber song that has been stuck in there, against my will, for what has seemed like an eternity. EMILY NOKES

Gaza, Eagle Twin
(El Corazón) "My least favorite thing about heavy bands is that they tend to get more mellow as they go," said Gaza vocalist Jon Parkin in a recent interview. "We try to set a standard for ourselves... to be more aggressive, darker, more focused." Sure enough, the Salt Lake City doomcore group sounds more and more like a wounded beast howling over buildings collapsing in slow motion. Fellow Beehiver and guitar virtuoso Gentry Densley of Eagle Twin followed a similarly grim trajectory. He spent the '90s leading Iceburn—a music collective composed of hardcore kids experimenting with free jazz—before applying his knack for twisted chord arrangements and improvisation to the molten sludge of Eagle Twin. Now if only Baroness had followed suit and gotten darker and meaner with their latest record... BRIAN COOK