POLARIS
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) Children of the '90s, rejoice—Polaris have returned! Initially formed in 1993 as a one-off side-project featuring members of the New Haven, Connecticut, college-rock band Miracle Legion, Polaris were commissioned by the creators of the Nickelodeon cult classic The Adventures of Pete & Pete to become the show's house band. Much like the show itself, Polaris' music has endured quite well over the two-decade span between Pete & Pete's initial run and these recent reunion shows, which mark the band's first-ever live performances. Hearing the show's theme song, "Hey Sandy," or the anthemic "Waiting for October" is guaranteed to bring forth an onslaught of resurgent nostalgia. Meanwhile, slower, sentimental numbers like "She Is Staggering" and the melancholy-soaked "Everywhere" still sound great enough to position frontman Muggy Polaris—AKA Mark Mulcahy—and his little band from Wellsville right alongside recent Melbourne-based jangle-pop breakout acts like Twerps and Dick Diver. CHIPP TERWILLIGER


SWAHILI, DJ GIGS, LAMAR LEROY, ACID FARM
(White Owl Social Club, 1305 SE 8th) I won't swear there's anything on Amovrevx, the new album from Portland electro-psych dance band Swahili, that you haven't heard before. But the way they've put it all together is invigorating and inviting: morotik-influenced Autobahn beats, Blade Runner funeral hymns for androids, clay-colored hot springs that bubble with new-age sounds, disco of both the Italo and Americo varieties. Swahili moved to Portland from the high desert of Reno in 2010, which might explain their sun-brightened, almost pastel take on the otherwise nocturnal, neon-lit realm of electronic dance music. But that is likely a reach—Amovrevx seems, simply, like the product of five likeminded people exploring exciting avenues of sound together. NED LANNAMANN


SOUTHERLY, TEAM EVIL, RITCHIE YOUNG, RYAN BARBER
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) It's easy, perhaps, to take Krist Krueger for granted. The Wisconsin native and one-man tour de force behind Yardsss, Sdtrkr, Southerly, and the Self Group (and probably some other things no one knows about yet) always has something going on. He can be difficult to keep up with. Yet even as the mediums change, his consistency remains impressive. Southerly has been the most accessible and visible acts among his cadre (2007's Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist is one of the best records of its kind to come out of Portland over the past decade), and the prolific Krueger returned to that moniker earlier this year with a fourth installment of his Song-a-Week series. The gist, once again, was that he wrote, recorded, mixed, and posted a new song within a week, this time resulting in 13 new songs. He'll celebrate its conclusion with the first full-band Southerly show in quite some time, alongside an entire bill of acts who evoke similarly fond memories. JEREMY PETERSEN


STUMPFEST: DANAVA, LORD DYING, LECHEROUS GAZE, BLACK PUSSY, SONS OF HUNS, PRIZEHOG
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Portland's musical landscape is a lush garden of bands that can satisfy the tastes of anyone. But if you strip them all of genre, style, and label, sift through your own hang-ups about what makes for good music and performance, and just look at them as a group of musicians making music, you will find that Danava is the best band in Portland. Nobody in this town is more comfortable, confident, professional, proficient, or just plain natural as these four gentlemen. You can feel the heady and heavy grooves emanate from them as soon as they mount the stage, and once they start manipulating their instruments and putting their true selves out on display, there is absolutely no refuge in a room that Danava is rocking. ARIS WALES Also see My, What a Busy Week!