TUESDAY
While Deer Tick‘s website (and music, for that matter) may reflect a spare ethos, there’s a lovely complexity to John J. McCauley’s songwriting. Comparable to the raspy twang of A. A. Bondy, McCauley’s voice is the beating heart of each and every track. At Black Cat with opener, Mark Sultan. $16, 8:00 p.m.

There’s really not a lot you can say after a concert during which the lingering metallic taste of a few beers is more compelling than the music you’ve just heard. Certainly, the Canadian band Stars has a few hits, but the majority of their set on Tuesday night was sustained by a homogeny of tempos and generic emotive duets. The rockers displayed a kind of rehearsed spontaneity and aged energy that left their show feeling far too even and peakless.

On Friday night at 9:30 Club, a lucky thousand got to experience a very particular form of aural and visual brutality. The HARD Tour pairs a denominator-heavy ratio of musical talent with pummeling beats and bass in an attempt to offer a logical depository for teen angst, hallucinogenic drugs, and rave nostalgia. If you are curious or confused about what exactly constitutes heavy electronic music, or if you wonder which kinds of music might scare even the most reasonable parents into unplugging their children from the Internet permanently, the HARD Tour would be a pretty good jumping-off point.

On Friday night at 9:30 Club, a lucky thousand got to experience a very particular form of aural and visual brutality. The HARD Tour pairs a denominator-heavy ratio of musical talent with pummeling beats and bass in an attempt to offer a logical depository for teen angst, hallucinogenic drugs, and rave nostalgia. If you are curious or confused about what exactly constitutes heavy electronic music, or if you wonder which kinds of music might scare even the most reasonable parents into unplugging their children from the Internet permanently, the HARD Tour would be a pretty good jumping-off point.

TUESDAY
With humorous and heartfelt tracks like “I Got High” and “Walmart Parking Lot,” Clem Snide is your sure fire winner for the evening. Local openers Heligoats are probably worth a look too, so show up early. Iota, 8:30 p.m., $14.

>> 9:30 Club: Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros, We Are Each Other featuring Aaron Embry. 7:00 p.m., SOLD OUT.
>> Black Cat Backstage: Endless Boogie, Arbouretum. 9:00 p.m., $10.
>> DC9: East Coast Caravan, Amber Dutton. 8:30 p.m., $8.

It was a night of both explicit and implicit Weezer tributes at the Black Cat.

It was a night of both explicit and implicit Weezer tributes at the Black Cat.

Broken Bells, who in the studio are the talented duo of Danger Mouse and James Mercer, multiplied their band members to seven for this performance. Their opening song featured three dudes playing guitar!

Broken Bells, who in the studio are the talented duo of Danger Mouse and James Mercer, multiplied their band members to seven for this performance. Their opening song featured three dudes playing guitar!

Finned octopus in the Sant Ocean Hall, by Meaghan Gay for DCist DCist amigos Bluebrain (***) are always coming up with creative ways to get their music to the masses. And this idea is no exception. From Ryan Holladay, one half of the group: Essentially, we have created an audio companion to the Sant Ocean Hall in the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum. It’s a 20 minute piece of music that we’ve written to be…