From Stockholm, Sweden, Peter, Bjorn, and John, are the Euro version of Peter, Paul, and Mary, with two great distinctions -- they have good songs and are savagely non-irritating. They’re not alarming or crass. They’re not unnatural or abrasive sounding. They make music with a sly message. There’s nothing for you to do but listen. They play the Southgate house with Chairlift at 9:30 p.m.  

Junior Boys are preternaturally adept at infusing Techno and Soul that isn’t awful, but rather suspiciously wonderful. This band almost makes it acceptable to rummage through old Boys 2 Men albums at the thrift store without fear of reprisal (but only if you add a Crystal Castles loop to it in GarageBand for flavor). Junior Boys provide many avid legions of emotionless hipsters that have resigned themselves to listening to feeling-neutral tripe to rediscover their emotions through music. Dance it off with them at the Southgate House.  

Of Montreal, the non-Canadian, pro-vaudevillian, Ziggy Stardust-esque troupe from Athens, Ga. present vibrant, synth-driven, flamboyant energy that feeds off the glittery residue of Queen, Bowie and Prince. Their sound -- gleeful, spastic and psychological stunning -- is as complex as anything Henrik Ibsen ever wrote, fraught with tension and relief, color and charm. Their albums are the equivalent of watching the best Rock Opera ever and then dying immediately afterward. They play the Madison Theater with Fire Zuave and Sugar and Gold.  

Life’s too short to remain unnoticed, at least that’s what Dali said. This is the catch-all mantra that many of today’s appreciable artists — including Rock musicians — whisper to themselves at night.  

Already formed and broken up once by 1982, The Queers began to grab headlines with the reemergence of perennial frontman Joe Queer in 1990. Queer would be the consistent nucleus of a band whose roster was a haphazard game of musical chairs; roughly 30 members since 1982 have been a Queer. Twenty five years later, the band still shows no signs of stopping, with an upcoming CD release slated for 2009 and a tour that included a stint at South By Southwest in Texas.  

Already formed and broken up once by 1982, The Queers began to grab headlines with the reemergence of perennial frontman Joe Queer in 1990. Queer would be the consistent nucleus of a band whose roster was a haphazard game of musical chairs; roughly 30 members since 1982 have been a Queer. Twenty-five years later, The Queers still show no signs of stopping.  

Jesse Hughes is a self professed 'bride of Rock & Roll,' a job I assume is similar to being Satan's housekeeper: filthy, sweaty and invariably punctuated by the occasional stab of a rogue syringe. But Hughes, lead singer of the Arena Rock breakout sensation The Eagles of Death Metal, seems to be reinventing the wheel and taking ancient Rock mythology for a spin.   

Jesse Hughes is a self professed “bride of Rock & Roll,” a job I assume is similar to being Satan’s housekeeper: filthy, sweaty and invariably punctuated by the occasion stab of a rogue syringe. Hughes, the lead singer of the Arena Rock breakout sensation, The Eagles of Death Metal, seems to be reinventing the wheel and taking ancient Rock mythology for a spin. The band -- boasting Josh Homme, lead singer of Queens of the Stone Age on drums -- is shattering stereotypes by remaining true to the spirit of Rock & Roll without comprising it’s integrity. The band plays with Living Things at the 20th Century Theater at 8 p.m.  

In biology class, I learned that evolution was the passing of traits from parent to offspring between specific species. In music, evolution is just good business and might be the difference between success and failure. In that spirit, Matthew Cooper and Evan Sharfe seek your attention as RaceCarProductions, a Cincinnati record label that's trying to put the city on the map using their sonic prowess.   

His Torah-inspired lyrics have mainstreamed Reggae while giving audiences exposure to the dynamism of the Jewish faith. With each performance, Matisyahu is recasting how the public receives both Reggae and Judaism.