Local Rock/Soul/Pop crew The Guitars celebrates its newish release, Higher Action, tonight at Northside’s Mayday with special guests Animal Circles. The recording is actually an expanded version of The Guitars’ phenomenal 2011 EP, High Action, with two bonus cuts — “El Alamein” and a cover of Billy Vera/The Remains’ “Don’t Look Back”— culled from an “Ultrasessions” live recording at local Ultrasuede Studios. The two cuts only serve to make the release stronger. The Guitars' songs have a timelessness — marked by non-pedestrian elements of Motown, Stax, The Box Tops and other vintage Soul Pop — that makes you feel, after just a couple of listens, that you've known these tunes all your life. Oh, and in another tip of the vintage hat, this new Higher Action is being released on cassette by California indie label Burger Records (the label has put out material by The Black Lips, The GO, King Tuff and many others). The Guitars are presently preparing to start recording new material with local artist/producer Brian Olive. Keep tabs on the band via their Facebook site here.Here's the bonus-cut cover of The Remains’ “Don’t Look Back":

• Cinematic Indie alchemists Mountains perform a free show tonight at Mayday in Northside. Led by longtime pals Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp, Mountains formed in Chicago and are now based in New York. The band, which electronically "abstracts" and manipulates cello, acoustic guitar, piano and other instruments into unique, ethereal sounds, is touring in support of its new album Centralia, its third for the esteemed Thrill Jockey label. CityBeat's Jason Gargano writes that, on the new release, "it’s as if David Lynch and his longtime composer Angelo Badalamenti wrestled the eternally ethereal Tree of Life away from Terence Malick and injected a serious dose of mood-altering menace into its penultimate scene." Check out his full preview of the show here. Here's a video Centralia track "Living Lens." Mountains - Living Lens from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.• Modern Roots music legends Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale (and a backing band) perform together tonight at the Southgate House Revival in Newport. Not "together" like a double-bill, but "together" as in they'll be doing tunes from their long in the works collaborative album, Buddy & Jim. Showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets are $25. Singer/songwriter Max Gomez opens.Talking from his Nashville home, Lauderdale told CityBeat's Brian Baker that the buddies began talking about making the record over 15 years ago. “I ran into somebody recently that said they had seen footage of me after a gig in Germany and they were asking me what I was up to and I said that I was getting ready to do a record with Buddy Miller,” Lauderdale says. “It turned out that was in ’95.”Read the full interview here and check out this trailer for the album.For even more live music options in Greater Cincinnati tonight, click here.

Tonight in Northside, Mayday presents its monthly new local band showcase, "Unsung." This month's newcomers aren't entirely "new," but they are new to Cincinnati. The Brothers Devine, a quirky and eclectic AltRock two-piece (guitar/drums) featuring bros Andris and Erik Devine, recently moved to town from Milwaukee. The duo takes avowed influences like Green Day, System of a Down, Bad Religion, and the Goo Goo Dolls and concocts a wild-eyed blend of Punk, Indie Pop, Metal, Folk and whatever the hell else they feel like exploring at the time. Tonight's Unsung show is free and kicks off at 9 p.m. Here's a playlist of the Devine's music to get your ready. Click here for more on the group.• Fuzzy, Pumpkins-esque AltRock crew Silversun Pickups pulls into Corryville tonight for a show at Bogart's. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $30 at the door.Click here to read a show preview from this week's CityBeat, then check out the band performing on WNYC's Soundcheck. Audio of the full appearance follows. Click here for even more live music options in Greater Cincinnati tonight.