Heavy Dates

by John O'Neill and Carly Carioli

WORCESTER: Friday, November 21, gets off to a swinging start with a five-star punkathon at the Espresso Bar when Boston giants the Unseen blow into town with the cool-as-hell Ducky Boys and 30 Seconds over Tokyo. Wormtown will be represented by the fabulous Westies on a bill that would make Johnny Ramone very proud indeed. Dennis Brennen played in some turd bands in his younger days, but he's more than made up for that with two brilliant albums on Upstart Records in the past three years. He returns to Gilrein's for what should be a super evening of roots-flavored rock, while over at the Plantation Club the Heavy Metal Horns invite the crowd to stomp an' shout and work it on out. The Worcester Phoenix Fall Music Series rolls on at Jillian's with the Scott Babineau Band. Saturday, the Swinging Steaks continue their new-found fascination with acoustic shows as they play the intimate Above Club. Sir Morgan's Cove wins this week's Most Daring Line-up Award as Boston's rockabilly traditionalists the Racketeers (replete with "Go, Cat, Go"- and "Hey, Daddy-o"-type histrionics as well as real boss threads) open up for the ultra-heavy local heroes Cast Iron Hike. Victory Records labelmates Hatebreed and Cause for Alarm bring loud and hard to a new level at the Espresso Bar this Sunday, November 23, when they play with Veiled and Rebound in a show that should satisfy even the most maniacal hardcore junky. Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve, get to Gilrein's early to catch J.B. & the Activators who open for Scotty Mac & the Rockin' Bonnevilles in a great one-two punch of swing music.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE: On what is shaping up to be one of the biggest mall-boy albums of the all-important holiday shopping season, the deftones have mastered all the major salable neo-metal idioms and clichés -- their new Around the Fur (on Madonna's label) paints them as a more Helmety Korn with some Pantera thrown in, the obligatory chick on bass, and a little crooning that sounds kinda like the dude from Filter trying to imitate, of all people, Sunny Day Real Estate's Jeremy Enigck. Even more maddening than their blatant derivations is the realization that the first single sounds, er, kinda good. Okay, the whole thing's actually not too bad. Shit, just get it over with and go buy the fucking thing. Their show with fellow children-of-the-Korn Limp Bizkit at St. John's Gym (800-477-6849), in Clinton, on November 26 sold out in a week; but you can try catching them in Providence at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) on the biggest shopping day of the year with Will Haven and Shed.

The good half of Wilco -- Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett -- are out doing the intimate acoustic thing Monday November 24 at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610), in Northampton, and November 25 at the Middle East (617-864-3278), in Cambridge.

See, here's the deal -- the Throat Singers of Tuva are these guys from Outer Mongolia who can sing, like, two or three notes each at the same time. So even though there are only four of 'em, it takes a couple dozen Bulgarian women to post up. Which is what happens when the Huun Huur Tu Throat Singers go head to head with the 24-babushka Bulgarian Women's Choir in a no-holds-barred battle for former-Eastern Bloc supremacy. They're at Harvard's Sanders Theatre (617-496-2222) on Saturday November 22; they also do WFCR'S "Music to Your Ears" fall benefit concert at Mount Holyoke's Chapin Auditorium, in South Hadley (800-843-8425), on the 23rd.

-- Carly Carioli