Vivian Girls are at the Rock and Roll Hotel on Sunday.

MONDAY
>> On "Africa to Appalachia," Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone, Malian kora player Mansa Sissoko, and various others stick to mostly traditional Malian-style arrangements. It works as Sissoko's harp-like sound is gorgeous and Stone takes the banjo back to its African roots. They will be at the St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Rd., in Rockville, at 7:30 p.m.

>> North Carolina's Spider Bags add slide guitar and raw vocals with a country flavor into their punky rock. They'll be on a bill with locals the Face Accidents, Austin's The Golden Boys, and New York's The Antlers at the Velvet Lounge.

TUESDAY
>> Drag yourself out of the post-Columbus Day doldrums and wallow in the alt-country of Boston's Girls Guns and Glory. The Boston Globe called their "Buddy Holly-meets-Buck Owens rock 'n' roll" sturdy and sublime. With local group the Highballers at the Red and Black. Doors 9 p.m.

>> Speaking of doldrums, I didn't much care for that last Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album. But if you haven't listened to their self-titled debut in a while, it's probably worth a spin as it's still about as catchy as straightforward indie rock gets. Of course, that spin is about as close as you'll get to catching them on Tuesday, unless you bought a ticket to their latest DC9 set way in advance. It's sold out, but some enterprising folks are peddling their wares here.

WEDNESDAY
>> JJ Grey & Mofro bring their swamp rock sound to town—that means Southern-rooted blues-rock, country, garage, and psychedelia mixed with '60s blue-eyed soul and '70s funk. They will be with the Hill Country Review featuring member of the North Mississippi Allstars at the State Theatre in Falls Church.

THURSDAY
>> Free rock 'n' roll? No, not the "daily download" from Starbucks. Three Stars alums and local roots-rockers Justin Jones and the Driving Rain are headlining an evening at the Rock and Roll Hotel. And it's free. It's also Drunken Jenga night, so sneak upstairs between tunes, buy a $2 PBR, knock down the tower, drain the beer, and run back downstairs.

>> Monotonix, a crazy Israeli rock band that sets their equipment on fire and whose singer grabs people's beers and spills them on himself, will be creating a spectacle at DC9. With Mount Pleasant's ownImperial China and the Electricutions. $10. 9 p.m.

>> The Secret Machines are one of those bands that just seem to be perpetually touring. They're back again, this time with T.K. Webb, bringing their Floydian riff-rock to the 9:30 Club. $20, 8 p.m.

>> In the week's best turn-back-the-clock show, it's 60s instrumental wonders The Ventures playing at the Birchmere in Alexandria. And only $35! How could you pass this up? Also, what is it with being a still-touring oldies act that makes people feel like they should wear Hawaiian shirts? 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY
>> One of the D.C. area's most exciting groups these days, The Jet Age, pack a great triple bill at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Playing with them is spacey indie supergroup Magnetic Morning, Brooklyn's Springhouse, and local pop-punk band Julie Ocean. All that for 12 bucks. Doors at 8:30 p.m.

>> Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco RoadRunners will have folks dancing to their take on that traditional Louisiana Creole sound at Glen Echo Park's Bumpercar Pavilion, 7300 MacArthur Blvd. Glen Echo, MD.

SATURDAY
>> Vaguely rootsy mainstream pop headline Iota when Shane Hines and the Trance take over the place. $11, with Fools and Horses. 9:30 p.m.

>> The 2007 hour-long movie documentary Living the Hiplife traces the history of the Ghanaian genre that melds hip hop with highlife, the longtime guitar-led African musical style, at 2 p.m. for free at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. The showing will be moderated by filmmaker Jesse Shipley, plus a special musical guest to be announced.

>> Good world music in town on Saturday. Arnob, a Bangladeshi singer/songwriter leads the Unheard Voices World Tour at 7 p.m. at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue. Tickets available here.

>> The Whitetop Mountain Band from Mouth of Wilson, Virginia plays old-timey country, mountain gospel, bluegrass and more. They will be at the Washington Ethical Society, 7750 16th St., NW, at 8 p.m.

>> Pierced Arrows are the latest band led by Portland, Oregon's Fred Cole. Singer/guitarist Cole was in '60s garage rock bands, '70s punk bands, and from the '80s until 2006, Dead Moon, a garage, punk, and country outfit that included his wife Toody (who plays bass in Pierced Arrows). They will be at DC9.

SUNDAY
>> Yeah, Sunday nights are still Sunday nights, but this one brings a bevy of good options. First off, Fucked Up joins the newly-anointed noise pop queens Vivian Girls at the Rock and Roll Hotel (Cloak/Dagger and Police and Thieves will be there too, all for $12).

>> Or if you're looking to stick around the U Street corridor, you've got the catchy-as-hell West Coast pop stylings of The Little Ones along with up-and-coming NYC power pop troupe The Postelles at DC9. Oh, and did we mention joining them will be Three Stars alums Pash. $10 in advance, $12 at the door, which opens at 8:30 p.m.

>> And finally, Lykki Li's "Youth Novels" offers catchy electro-pop featuring the Stockholm blonde's little-girl voice, programmed beats, and some unusual percussion instruments. Bjorn from fellow Swedish indie-poppers Peter, Bjorn and John helped her out with arrangements. Li, who has also lived in Portugal and India, will be translating her studio sound live with her band at Black Cat .

Picture from Vivian Girls myspace page. Contributions by Steve Kiviat.