MONDAY
>> Long Beach, California’s Crystal Antlers have been the subject of much hype during the past few months, as they’ve traveled up and down the coasts peddling a fractured hodgepodge of post-punk, psych and garage. Come catch their infamously raucous live show before the band makes the inevitable jump to larger venues. At the Black Cat, with D.C.’s own avant-poppers True Womanhood, $8, 9:00 p.m.
>> At the crossroads between English folk and political punk, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more legendary figure than Billy Bragg. He’ll be playing the 9:30 Club with the Watson Twins. $35, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY
>> Memphis’ Jay Reatard (pictured) seems to be on a one man mission to revive lo-fi garage punk, releasing 7″ singles at a pace that would give even Ryan Adams pause. Reatard’s star has risen considerably over the course of the last year, and with a contract from Matador now under his arm, he seems poised to bring three-chord punk to the masses. At the Black Cat with Cola Freaks, $10, 8 p.m.
>> L.A.’s Hotel Cafe is something of a legend in singer-songwriter circles, having served as the launching pad for a number of prominent artists. For the fourth year in a row, the venue has decided to take some of its regular performers on the road, echoing the label revues of decades past. Among the artists performing this year are NoVA ex-pats Thao Nguyen and Rachel Yamagata. At the 9:30 Club, $20, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
>> Some things never change. Like Jersey’s favorite sons, the Bouncing Souls. They’ve been playing the same catchy pop-punk tunes, wearing their Jersey heritage with pride and making teenagers sweatily bump into each other for over 20 years now. Come out and see how many Mohawks, studded bracelets, dog collars and kids out past their curfew you can spot at the Black Cat on a Wednesday night. With Strike Anywhere, $15, 7:30 p.m.
>> Don’t let the news fool you: there’s more to Alaska than moose hunting, patriotic accents and houses with great views of Russia. Take, for example, Portugal. The Man. Sure, technically they now live in Portland and sure, they’re one of those bands that utilizes punctuation in their name to annoying effect. But that’s not what matters. What matters is that, despite their Wasilla, Alaska origins, the band has managed to avoid a career in politics, opting instead for a career in psych and glam-tinged, post-emo pop. If that isn’t a maverick move, we don’t know what is. At the Rock and Roll Hotel, $12, 8 p.m.
>> If Omaha, Nebraska has been blessed with two seemingly evergreen natural resources, those resources would have to be corn and weepy folk acts. Jake Bellows, a veteran of the Omaha scene, seems to be well-versed in both, sketching out sorrow in an unmistakably Midwestern manner with his band Neva Dinova. If you consider yourself a fan of bands like Bright Eyes and the Good Life, you’ll feel right at home at DC9 on Wednesday night. $10, 9 p.m.
