MATES OF STATE, FICTIONIST
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) As Mates of State, the husband-and-wife pair of keyboardist Kori Gardner and drummer Jason Hammel have been twisting harmonies and countermelodies into sugarcoated pop arrangements since the late '90s. While the band hasn't released an album since 2011's Mountaintops, they should have no shortage of material to play tonight, given their sprawling catalog—with high points like the trio of songs that open the band's 2003 album, Team Boo: "Ha Ha," "Whiner's Bio," and "Fluke." Gardner and Hammel weave their voices and instruments into enough distinct parts to fill an entire album. The result ends up sounding like a couple of high-energy school children, hopped up on sugar, defiantly refusing to let recess end without taking a final stand. You're guaranteed to be humming along in no time. CHIPP TERWILLIGER

WALE, AUDIO PUSH, BIZZY CROOK, RACHEL WEST
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Wale was once a streetwear-clad backpack rapper with a knack for go-go beats and strong ties to the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia). In 2007 he was producing Justice remixes with Mark Ronson. In 2008 he became Jerry Seinfeld's favorite rapper with his theme-heavy ode to the sitcom, A Mixtape About Nothing. In 2009 he landed cosigns from the Roots and Pharrell. Heady wordplay and poetic patience were his strong suits; he was a Roc Nation rookie with a laudable rap sheet. But in 2011, when Wale jumped ship to join Rick Ross & Co. at Maybach Music Group—the powerhouse home of gangster-indulgent rhymers like Meek Mills and French Montana—heads turned. It wasn't the literary club Wale seemed destined for. Now more aware than ever of his place in the rap game, the DC native gears for a sequel, tentatively titled The Album About Nothing. He's reaching back to the crafty one-liners (and steel drums) of his come-up, reminding fans why they caught on 10 years ago. MATTHEW B. SCHONFELD

THE SUPER SATURATED SUGAR STRINGS, EZRA BELL, BEVELERS
(The Secret Society, 116 NE Russell) Anchorage, Alaska's Super Saturated Sugar Strings (say that five times fast) turned their fair share of heads during a recent opening slot for a sold-out Doug Fir show with the Builders and the Butchers. During the set, the gypsy-folk, sermon-country collective vacillated between brassy parlor hoedowns and string-peppered, bawdy ballads. As healthy injections of '20s ragtime jazz mingled with the kind of gothic folk that the Builders have explored during the last decade, the crowd, summarily, lost their shit. The SSSS's two albums saddle tight vocal harmonies on a shape-shifting catalog of songs that'll be stuck in your head for longer than you'll be comfortable admitting. RYAN J. PRADO

BEACON, LORD RAJA, PHILIP GRASS
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) When a new strain of shadowy, soft-spoken, electro-tinged R&B bubbled up from the underground in the early 2010s, artists like the Weeknd, How to Dress Well, and Frank Ocean were quickly embraced as an intriguing alternative to a more traditional sound. But they also drew skeptics who questioned not only their sudden surge in popularity, but also the staying power of the new style. Since then, progressive soul (a relatively tolerable term for the genre... maybe?) has not only stuck around but also flourished, thanks to acts like Kelela, Rhye, and Beacon, a Brooklyn-based duo that takes Thomas Mullarney III's dimly lit coos and sets them against producer Jacob Gossett's glitchy future-pop. On their new EP, L1, Beacon push beyond after-the-afterparty jams and offer something with more momentum and meat on its bones. It's sturdier, more sinister, and more satisfying than Beacon's previous work. BEN SALMON