From hardcore to softcore, hip-hop to Latin ska, this weekend’s musical highlights are numerous and varied. Put on your appropriate footwear, warm up your ID, and get ready for sound.
FRIDAY
Bane’s World
Spiderhouse Ballroom
Fri., July 6, 8pm
Bedroom pop, a burgeoning genre of hypnotic, lo-fi soundscapes, may have its breakout act in Bane’s World. Shane Blanchard records groggy beats in his Long Beach garage, lulling listeners into a dream world clouded by melancholic harmonies, hazy synths, and sluggish R&B percussion. The group’s live guitarist, Michael Seyer, produces lonely boy alternative soul from home too. He supports after New Age L.A. rockers Inner Wave. – Jeremy Steinberger
Dipset Forever Tour
Empire Control Room
Fri., July 6, 9pm
Like the Globetrotters, Langston Hughes, and their younger conceptual progeny A$AP Mob, artist collective Diplomats (aka Dipset) is a Harlem institution. Debuting on frontman Cam’ron’s 2000 album S.D.E. and assembling officially on mixtape Diplomats Volume 1 two years later, the quartet branded a template for collectives like Odd Future. When Jim Jones and Juelz Santana aren’t busy with reality TV show antics, Dipset swags on singles such as June’s “Stronger.” – Clara Wang
Panteón Rococó
Emo’s
Fri., July 6, 8pm
Dance and resistance define Panteón Rococó. The Mexico City 10-piece takes root in Latin ska, as evidenced by “La Dosis Perfecta” and the raucous “La Carencia,” but punk, salsa, mariachi, and reggae crackle throughout an expansive catalog. Take your pick: the blazing big brass on A la Izquierda de la Tierra (1999), political brashness of Compañeros Musicales (2002), or the eclectic Ni Carne Ni Pescado (2012).– Alejandra Ramirez
Antone’s 43rd Anniversary
Antone’s
Fri. & Sat., July 6 & 7
The Home of the Blues’ 43rd birthday, continuing through July 21, dips down to New Orleans with Lil’ Band O’ Gold aces C.C. Adcock, Tommy McLain, and Lil’ Buck Sinegal lead a “SW Louisiana Swampede” sure to fête Fats Domino. The next day the celebration jets north to Chicago. Harp cat Billy Boy Arnold, bassist Bob Stroger, guitar great Bob Margolin, and drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith – veterans of Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and more – receive all-star local backing on their way to “Sweet Home Chicago.” – Raoul Hernandez
SATURDAY
Radio Jarocho & Zenén Zeferino
Central Presbyterian Church
Sat., July 7
Although a debut for NYC’s newly formed Radio Jarocho & Zenén Zeferino, Rios de Norte y Sur is an extension of Radio Jarocho’s 2013 debut Café Café and a celebration of Afro-Mexican culture. Driven by raw and traditional instrumentation of Latin double bass and flamenco guitar, the album turns on master musicians Zenén Zeferino and Radio Jarocho’s Juan Carlos Marín, who offer reinterpretations of classic Mexican love ballads (“Balaju”) and African rhythms (“Conga de San Benito”).– Alejandra Ramirez
TC Superstar
The Electric Church
Sat., July 7, 9pm
TC Superstar is everywhere this summer. Recent UT graduate Conor McCampbell’s synth-pop blips raw, futuristic disco humanized by dry harmonies and primal electronic percussion. Dancers bring the set to life with whimsical, choreographed numbers reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite. The all-ATX bill stacks Millbrook Estates’ forceful folk, Cosmic Chaos’ surf rock, and Smiile’s exuberant pop.– Jeremy Steinberger
Death Will Tremble EP release party
Come & Take It Live
Sat., July 7, 7pm
“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” So wrote Charles Bukowski, and Austin doom merchants DWT make it so on their 14-minute, single-track EP, Departures. Where 2016 full-length Mona bore the elephantine grief of frontman/guitarist tandem Hunter and Chase Townsend losing their father, the follow-up thickens the sludge, lowers tempos, and continues screaming against the dying of the light: “It’s been bad before, but it’s getting worse.” – Raoul Hernandez
SUNDAY
Iron Age
Hotel Vegas
Sun., July 8, 5pm
A 5pm matinee sans pre-sales mobs a rare performance by Iron Age. The exquisite hardcore quintet, informed by crusty punk, thrash metal, and latent fantasy themes, was Austin’s best heavy act of the late Aughts, peaking with 2009 masterpiece The Sleeping Eye. Now, napalm-throated Jason Tarpey leads them into battle once a year at best. Afflictive Nature, Skourge, and Erupt open. – Kevin Curtin
Bellows, Caroline Says
Mohawk
Sun., July 8, 8pm
Indie folk project of Brooklynite Oliver Kalb, Bellows diverted into electronic aesthetics and bedroom pop sincerity on 2016’s Fist & Palm. The producer’s latest, “Housekeeping,” continues the trend for a tumbling, delicate sing-along. Caroline Sallee joins with slightly sardonic, introspective melodies from ATX sophomore LP No Fool Like an Old Fool. Rising locals Sun June open atop cinematic landscapes wafting Laura Colwell’s voice on June debut Years. – Rachel Rascoe
This article appears in July 6 • 2018.