MUSIC PICKS: APR 21 - 27 

• Courtesy Photo
• Rosali

Colt Lightnin' @ Aces High
Rarely are you going to find a venue and band match up as well as this one, as Portland's one-man band Colt Lightnin' comes to town with his guitars, drums, percussion and voice. And let's not forget his bag of influences, including Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hasil Adkins and Elvis. The instrumental set-up he sports and his performance tagline of "guitar pickin', drum kickin'" more than suggests that a set of no-frills punkabilly is ahead. Colt Lightnin' plays Aces High (1588 S. State) on Thursday, April 21 at 8 p.m. He'll be appearing with Las Vegas punks Jerk. Cover charge TBD.

The Far Side @ The Commonwealth Room
The spiritual and literal successors to The Pharcyde, a leading light of '90s hip-hop, The Far Side comes to town as part of a nation-spanning, six-week tour. The lyrical aces have put aside past differences and are presenting tracks from the classic pair of Pharcyde albums (Bizarre Ride II: The Pharcyde and Labcabincalifornia), as well as new material from the core trio of IMANI, Slimkid3 and Fatlip. In reviewing the tour earlier this month, clture.org wrote that: "While the concert felt strange at times, what else would you expect from a group that took hip-hop on an eccentric phantasmagoria when it seemed so deeply rooted in a detached kind of cool. The group's previous fractures seemed distant as they conjured the beauty of the bizarre." The Far Side, appearing with DJ Abilities, plays SLC on Sunday, April 24; doors open at the Commonwealth Room (195 W. 2100 South) at 7 p.m. Ticket information via thestateroompresents.com.

Striker @ Metro Music Hall
As the group's bio notes, "Blending classic heavy metal, hard rock, and '80s hair metal, Striker have been making shredtacular anthems since 2007." With this winning recipe, the Canadian group's played all over North America and Europe, too. Refreshingly honest about the sound, the group's Bandcamp page suggests what their people's choice sound is all about. "It's about Heavy Metal and a good time," quoth Striker vocalist singer Dan Cleary. "If you're having a party at your house, then put our CD into the player and drink some beer. This music is exactly made for such moments." The Dark Connection Tour 2022 with Beast In Black, Seven Kingdoms and Striker arrives at Metro Music Hall (615 W. 100 South) on Monday, April 25. Tickets to this show, with its 7 p.m. door time, are $25 and available at 24tix.com.

• Christopher Good
• Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee @ The Commonwealth Room
Helmed by vocalist, singer and songwriter Katie Crutchfield, Waxahatchee is a critically-acclaimed band that leaves behind not only a nice discography, but an extensive series of appearances on taste-making podcasts, vlogs and radio station live spots. The group's most-recent album is Saint Cloud, released in late March of this year on Merge Records. As Crutchfield notes on her streamed live appearances of late, the sound of this one's firmly leaning Americana. She tells City Beat of Cincinnati "that love of Country music led me to Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, the people I think are the greatest songwriters who ever lived. One thing led to another. I think that coming up in Alabama as a teenager in the early 2000s, I rebelled against that type of stuff. I didn't want to be seen as Southern and Country. I was so Punk Rock. As I've gotten older, I've circled back to my true roots, which feels really good." Waxahatchee appears at The Commonwealth Room (195 W. 2100 South) on Monday, April 25. Doors are at 7 p.m. and tickets are available at thestateroompresents.com.

• Courtesy Photo
• Destroyer

Destroyer and Rosali @ Urban Lounge
Long a songwriter of the highest order and an assembler of excellent bands, Daniel Bejar has created some of the loveliest chamber pop of the past 20 years, both with Destroyer and with the band that introduced him to at least some of his audience, the New Pornographers, in which he's shared songwriting duties with A.C. Newman and Neko Case. His main gig, Destroyer, is back, and Pitchfork says of the latest album Labyrinthitis: "With one hand, the songs invite your attempts to decipher their myriad puzzles and tangents; with the other, they push you away, luxuriating in disorientation." If you're deep into the Destroyer cult, you're likely already hipped to the new album, though you may've missed the 2020 tour documentary, a half-hour deep dive into the minutiae of touring, capturing in beautiful detail, the load-ins, soundchecks, moments of quiet introspection that take up the 23-hours a day not spent performing for an audience. It's a real gem, a behind-the-scenes look at a touring band's life with gorgeous cinematography. This is the rare show in which it's absolutely, 100 percent incumbent upon attendees to get there early. Plenty of smart folks know the act Rosali. She's toured with, among others: J Mascis, The War on Drugs, Hiss Golden Messenger, Mary Lattimore. And now Destroyer. With three albums to her credit—available for stream or purchase at Bandcamp—Rosali's crafted a nice, growing catalog with the songs on her latest album, No Medium, simply stellar. Her bio hits the mark: "She weaves together intimate lyrics, strong melodic and rhythmic structures, and mellifluous singing while maintaining the free nature of the song's origins, resulting in songs that are vulnerable, honest, and fresh, yet familiar." So good! Destroyer appears with Rosali at the Urban Lounge (241 S. 500 East) on Tuesday, April 26 at 7 p.m. Tickets can be found for $20 at 24tix.com.