The Degenerettes

Valentine’s, Thursday

Glam-garage-rock girl band the Degenerettes will wrap up their summer tour at Valentine’s tonight. The Baltimore-based group—who call themselves “the voice of new queer DIY rock & roll”—are touring in support of a self-produced live album called Dirty Laundry and Skeletons: Live Recordings 2005-2007. The name is strangely appropriate: The recordings sound deliciously “dirty”; the unpolished, gravelly songs seem a proper introduction for new listeners. Check out some videos of their live stuff at degenerettes.com. Saint Jude Pray for Us (Stephen Gaylord and Kelly Murphy, formerly of the Wasted) and indie-pop combo Scientific Maps will open tonight’s show. (Aug. 16, 9 PM, $5, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany, 432-6572)

Modest Mouse

Pines Theater, Friday

Masters of the eight-word album title Modest Mouse returned this spring with We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, the follow-up to their breakout 2004 disc Good News for People Who Love Bad News (which featured the monster hit “Float On”). The disc debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album-sales chart; it also boasted a new band member in the form of ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Johnny. Freaking. Marr. We find these things shocking because, through their Epic (heh) rise to stardom, Modest Mouse have adhered to their basic tenets—off-kilter, guitar-driven indie rock, with a vocalist (Isaac Brock) who sounds drunk enough to actually kill a man—all the while actively expanding and improving their craft (and making some killer records). Bravo, we say. They’ll play the Pines Theater at Northampton’s bucolic Look Park tomorrow night with Love as Laughter and indie-folk heroes Band of Horses. (Aug. 17, 6 PM, $38.50, Look Park, 300 N. Main St., Florence, Mass., 800-THE-TICK)

Stone Sour

Northern Lights, Saturday

No longer just the Slipknot guy’s other band, Stone Sour have found a great deal of success with their brand of earnest (we’ll stop short of calling it pedestrian, but it kind of is) alt-metal. Last year’s Come What(ever) May, the band’s second disc, found its way into the hands of enough disaffected youngsters that a special-edition reissue was packaged (we’ll stop short of saying it was warranted) this summer. If you’re a Slipknot fan, you might want to turn up early for this one, as that band’s second-chair drummer, Shawn Crahan, will open with his own side project, Dirty Little Rabbits. Australia’s Sydonia also are on the bill. (Aug. 18, 7 PM, $30, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park, 371-0012)

Oscar Brand

Guthrie Center, Saturday

Although he’s Canadian, Oscar Brand has been a staple in the American folk scene over his successful 60-year-long career. He has written songs for artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day and Harry Belafonte; he’s been long associated with NPR, hosting and interviewing for different shows (currently, he hosts Oscar Brand’s Folksong Festival on Saturday mornings for WNYC); and he’s been part of multiple college faculties. Along the way, Brand has released seven best-selling books and recorded 90 LPs. Ninety! In case you’re not convinced yet that you should see this show, chew on this: He’ll probably perform songs from Military Songbook, a new two-disc set that features four best-selling albums from his Military Series. (Aug. 18, 6 PM, $20, $18 members, 4 Van Deusenville Road, Great Barrington, Mass., 413-528-1955)

Shawn Colvin

CDPHP Tennis Complex, Monday

Grammy Award-winning folk-rock songstress Shawn Colvin (who, by the way, recently made her debut on The Simpsons as a Christian-rock singer—you can find the song she sang on the Simpsons TV soundtrack Testify, due out this fall) will stop by Central Park in Schenectady on Monday to perform as part of the Music Haven’s 10th Annual Gala. Colvin’s been mighty busy these days, touring in support of her new album, These Four Walls. During last year’s tour, Colvin found time to record a nifty pop-folk remake of Gnarls Barkley’s mega-hit “Crazy,” her version being a standout in a field of dozens. The rain site for Monday’s performance is Proctor’s Theatre; proceeds from the gala event (which costs extra; visit musichavenstage.com for more) benefit the Music Haven Stage. (Aug. 20, 7:30 PM, $15, Central Park, Schenectady, 372-4159)

Squirrel Nut Zippers

Squirrel Nut Zippers

Vapor Nightclub, Wednesday

The folks at Vapor seem to have found a gap in the space-time continuum that leads directly back to 1997, the year when the alternative nation got nostalgic for the 1940s. Oh yes, swing was indeed king for a time there, and at the forefront of that brief revival were Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (who were the first act to grace the Vapor stage back in June) and Squirrel Nut Zippers, who swing (snort) into town this Wednesday. Best known for their calypso- flavored hit “Hell,” the North Carolina-based Zippers spent most of the ’00s dormant; they re-formed this spring because, as far as we can tell, they got the memo that every popular band of the 1990s had to get back together this year. Here they are now; let them entertain you. (Aug. 22, 9 PM, $10, Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, 342 Jefferson St., Saratoga Springs, 584-2110)

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