LIVE MUSIC PICKS: JUNE 6-12 

click to enlarge

• Austin Hargrave

THURSDAY 6/6
New Kids on the Block with Salt-N-Pepa, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Naughty by Nature
Those who are old enough might recall the old K-Tel television commercials hawking compilations of big radio hits culled from bygone eras. It went something like this: "Hey kids, remember this one? Blah blah blah ..." In a very real sense, the upcoming Mixtape tour brings that K-Tel concept to life with a virtual who's who of hitmakers of a decidedly '80s vintage. The songs that we'll hear constitute the essence of an eternal oldies playlist, courtesy of each participant. Indeed, headliners New Kids On The Block—featuring its original essential lineup consisting of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood—boast a wealth of those chart toppers all on their own ("Boys in the Band," "Hangin' Tough," "Please Don't Go Girl," "Step By Step," etc.). The recent 30th anniversary re-release of NKOTB's classic album Hangin' Tough proves again that as a seminal boy band, they had all the right moves needed to dance their way to pop prominence. The group broke up in 1994 after scooping up practically every music award of note (Rolling Stone placed them at No. 16 in its list of "Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments"), but after reuniting in 2007, they've continued to tour ever since. No longer "new kids" per se, these accomplished showbiz veterans still rule their block with no competition from any Back Street at all. (Lee Zimmerman) Vivint Smart Home Arena, 301 W. South Temple, 7:30 p.m., $56.95-$86.95, vivintarena.com

click to enlarge

• Guadalupe Bustos

FRIDAY 6/7
Knuckle Puck, Citizen, Hunny, Oso Oso
In pop-punk, moderation is often a virtue. Finding the sweet spot between edgeless, sugary radio filler and wince-inducing easycore, while also maintaining a distinct musical identity, is no easy feat. Of the bands to rise to prominence within the genre over the last decade, you could argue that Knuckle Puck have toed that line better than most of their contemporaries. The Chicago quintet spent the first half of the 2010s refining their chops with a string of self-released EPs, before signing to Rise Records in 2014 and unleashing their debut full-length, Copacetic, a year later. Knuckle Puck's 2017 sophomore effort, Shapeshifter, found the group deepening their sound by drawing from Midwest emo, alternative rock and the barest hint of post-hardcore. The album featured all the youthful exuberance of Sum 41 or Blink-182 on "Everyone Lies to Me" and "Stuck in Our Ways," but also called to mind emo greats like Sunny Day Real Estate and Anberlin on late-album cuts "Conduit" and "Plastic Brains." Knuckle Puck takes the grand stage at The Complex along with fellow Midwesterners Citizen, whose 2017 album As You Please garnered critical and fan acclaim for its mature and tuneful blend of melodic hardcore, emo and grunge. Joining them are California pop-rockers Hunny and Long Beach indie-punk act Oso Oso. (Nic Renshaw) The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, 7 p.m., $21 presale, thecomplexslc.com

click to enlarge

• Rachel Becerra

The National Parks, Mindy Gledhill, Robert Loud
Since the turn of the century, indie pop and indie rock have risen to become some of the most commercially relevant genres in the music industry, and Provo has proven to be a central site for the genre within Utah. Venues like ABG's and especially Velour have produced chart-topping superstars like Imagine Dragons and Neon Trees, as well as less ubiquitous acts like The Brobecks, Moth & the Flame and Fictionist. The National Parks have been staples of the Provo scene for years now, initially working a brand of sweeping, lush folk-rock that drew frequent comparisons to Fleet Foxes. Their 2015 album Until I Live was an energetic and diverse affair, branching out into pop and rock influences while keeping intact the warm folk overtones and organic instrumentation present on their 2013 debut Young. A more radical change in sound came in 2017, with Places blending bits of their roots-ier influences into a polished and cinematic indie-pop sound that slots neatly alongside modern indie titans such as Walk the Moon or The 1975. This week finds them kicking off the 10th and final season of The Provo Rooftop Concert Series, a summer tradition that has contributed hugely to Provo's cultural influence since its 2009 inception, which since then has helped revitalize the downtown area. Joining them in this night of food, fun and music is folk-pop songstress Mindy Gledhill and indietronica artist Robert Loud. (NR) 100 W. Center St., Provo, 7:30 p.m., free, rooftopconcertseries.com

click to enlarge

• Mitja Kobal

MONDAY 6/10
MONO, Emma Ruth Rundle
Heavy rock 'n' roll doesn't always jive well with orchestral elegance. But over the course of 20 years and nine full-length albums, Japanese quartet MONO has perfected a blend of jagged shoegaze guitars and string-laden symphonic brilliance. The band's first two albums, 2001's Under the Pipal Tree and 2003's One More Step and You Die, laid the groundwork for MONO's cult status. They featured melodies that veer from minimalist meanderings to arena-ready bombastic and dense riffs, which build through steady repetition to ecstatic release. These soaring concepts culminate on their last record, 2016's Requiem for Hell, with an ode to that most epic of all epics, Dante's The Divine Comedy. There's a reason why British tastemaking music magazine NME called MONO's prodigious output "music for the gods"—and there's no denying the power of their stage show, which was captured in emotionally rapturous form on their 2010 live album Holy Ground. MONO won't have a 23-piece string band backing them at The Urban Lounge, but you can bet their paradisiacal arrangements will still fill every inch of the place. Opening for MONO is Emma Ruth Rundle, who wowed a rapt Kilby Court audience last December with her cathartic folk and post-rock crunch. Rundle's 2018 album On Dark Horses mixed those two disparate strands beautifully, with haunting guitar work, brutally honest storytelling and mournful vocal arrangements. Expect both bands to recalibrate your expectations on how dark music can move you deeply. (Nick McGregor) The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 8 p.m., $15, 21+, theurbanloungeslc.com

click to enlarge

• Emma Monalvan

TUESDAY 6/11
LANY
Crooning and swooning is the name of the game for LA-based band LANY. With their lush and melancholic ballads, they've carved out a special shade for themselves on the pop spectrum—using a combination of '80s-inspired electro-pop and R&B, the band portrays raw emotions in a way that gets at the fluttery ups and downs of life and love. Following the release of 2018's Malibu Nights, the trio of Paul Jason Klein, Charles Leslie Priest and Jake Goss' most recent piece of work is a collaboration with fellow rising pop star Julia Michaels. The April single, "okay," just adds more fuel to the inevitable fire, sending a message loud and clear to listeners: If you want to get in your feelings, play some LANY. This doesn't mean all of LANY's songs are sad, though there are some tracks you might want to wallow in ("I Don't Wanna Love You Anymore," "13"). There are in fact plenty that are equally as danceable and happy ("Pink Skies," "ILYSB"). Through their songwriting, LANY has become a band directly tapped into people's emotions. "It's just the only way I know how to write. I feel like a lot of times in my whole life, to really process or communicate something, I feel like I can do it better in music, and I think that's part of what we do as LANY," Klein told Billboard in 2018. "It's not all that we do, but I think when people come to know and learn LANY, they know they're going to get real, relatable, universal, believable, realistic lyrics.Fans know what we're talking and singing about,and they can find themselves in those stories." (Isaac Biehl) The Great Saltair, 12408 W. Saltair Drive, 8 p.m., $35 presale, $40 day of show, thesaltair.com

click to enlarge

• Jan Brauer

TUESDAY 6/11
Powerman 5000, Poonhammer, Outside Infinity
It was once thought that 1999 would be the last year of civilization. It was rumored that computers were going to take over the world. So, in anticipation of the end, many songs and albums were inspired by the human race's inevitable demise. If I could sum up 1999 in one song, it would be "When Worlds Collide" by Powerman 5000. The industrial metal scene was still going strong, and nü metal was on its way in, a perfect time for frontman Spider One (Michael Cummings) and his up-and-coming group Powerman 5000 to feed a hungry pre-Y2K audience with intergalactic space-age imagery and catchy, supersonic tunes. Although Tonight the Stars Revolt! wasn't their first record, it was the one that caught the attention of the mainstream (and an 11-year-old me just discovering alt music for the first time). Was the fame due to timing or luck? It might've been both. Or it might be that hard music just runs in the Cummings family—Spider One is the brother of Rob Zombie, and was hard-set on not getting any handouts or special treatment. "At the end of the day, we were the ones who had to write a good song and put on a good live show," he told theprp.com last year. Now, Powerman 5000 is celebrating and reclaiming new wave all their own. And they want to remind fans that they haven't forgotten where they come from by paying tribute to Tonight the Stars Revolt! by way of their current tour. (Rachelle Fernandez) The Royal, 4760 S. 900 East, 7:30 p.m., $15, 21+, theroyalslc.com