BOBBY PERU, CLARKE AND THE HIMSELFS, SHITTY WEEKEND, CULT CHOIR
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) The first time I heard Boise native Clarke Howell's one-man-band, Clarke and the Himselfs, it was at an outdoor Rontoms Sunday Session. Clarke was on the back patio covering Jay Reatard's "Hammer I Miss You," and through the walls I mistook it for the original recording of the song. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only was it a live cover, but it was being played by a lone musician sitting behind a drum set and holding a guitar. The next time I caught him, Howell displayed a similar command when he tore through the Wipers' "Mystery" at the inaugural Lose Yr Mind festival. Don't mistake Clark and the Himselfs for being a one-man jukebox, though, as his original material is every bit as strong as his interpretations. Songs like "Asteroid" and "Toxic World" are infectious, fuzzed-out earworms that are sure to get trapped in your head for days. CHIPP TERWILLIGER


A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, VEXX, DAYDREAM MACHINE
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) See My, What a Busy Week!


HERMITAGE PIANO TRIO
(PSU Lincoln Performance Hall, 1620 SW Park) Want to avoid the green-beer-and-cabbage crowd this year? Lucky for you, the fine folks at Friends of Chamber Music continue their stellar season tonight by hosting the Hermitage Piano Trio for some straight-ahead 19th century classical goodness. Following an all-Russian program on Monday evening, violinist Misha Keylin, cellist Sergey Antonov, and pianist Ilya Kazantsev team up once again with a pair of hits from their fellow countrymen Rimsky-Korsakoff and Alyabiev—along with the powerhouse Piano Trio in D Minor composed by Felix Mendelssohn. Whether it's the contagious melody of the opening chapter, or the wonderfully tranquil slow movement, or the rhythmically breezy scherzo, or the technically demanding finale that eventually bursts forth in all its major key glory, Mendelssohn's benchmark chamber work possesses a distinct quality shared by just about everything else he composed: It's charming as fuck. Armed with nothing but a fiddle, cello, and 88 keys in the especially intimate confines of Lincoln Hall, don't be surprised if these lads of the Hermitage Piano Trio unexpectedly restore your faith in humanity. BRIAN HORAY


GHOST TO FALCO, JONATHAN SIELAFF, SPECTRUM CONTROL
(Al's Den, 303 SW 12th) You can't carve wood into something beautiful without a jagged blade and a pile of splinters, and that's how I think of the hard-won beauty of Ghost to Falco, which lands somewhere between rock and folk and not-folk and not-rock. Eric Crespo's indefinable project plays at Al's Den all week long, with some incredible guests. NED LANNAMANN


BAYSIDE, SENSES FAIL, MAN OVERBOARD, SEAWAY
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Although I'm not eager to admit it, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Bayside. They're reliably the best band on awful pop-punk tour packages (like this one), and their covers of songs like the Smoking Popes "Megan" and "Movin' Out" by Billy Joel indicate a strong pop sensibility and appreciation percolating under that Warped Tour luster. Something is obviously getting lost in translation—probably owing to label pressure or an unfortunate obligation they feel to their snake-bitten fans—but there are still good songs on every Bayside record (alongside some pretty horrible ones), and their newest, Cult, is no exception. "Time Has Come" sounds like a slightly more subversive One Direction (that's a good thing!) and "Transitive Property" would actually be a pretty tender emo ballad, à la vintage Jimmy Eat World, if it weren't so fucking overproduced. MORGAN TROPER See All-Ages Action!