Heavy Dates

by John O'Neill and Carly Carioli

WORCESTER: Guerrero are a band who never seem to get out much these days, so when they do, it's in your best interest to check 'em out. You never know when it'll be the last chance to do so. They headline this Friday, January 30, at the Space with Chupa-Kabra and Hacksaw. Over at Ralph's, Woodgrain Theory (formerly Third Eye) celebrate the release of their new CD, which is one of the more interesting releases to slide across our desk in a while. They're on first, so get there early. The Toasters, those big-deal New York ska boys and perennial favorites, will head a night of like-minded fun at the Espresso Bar. Big Lick, who've become pretty popular themselves, and 7/10 Split round out this excellent bill. On Saturday, January 31, the always-in-demand Chillum bookend a great show at Sir Morgan's Cove with Random Road Mother. Arrive early to witness RRM in all their idiotic splendor, it will be well worth it. I remember the Pousette-Dart Band from my college days, but very little about them, except I really enjoyed saying Pousette-Dart. Go ahead, try it. Anyhow, Jon Pousette-Dart will be appearing sans band but with Susan Piper at the Bull Run Restaurant. The Unseen, Beantown punk extraordinaires, return to Espresso Bar. Also on the bill are the Puking Toms, August Spies, Family Fun, and this week's runaway winner for Best Name, the Baby Shakers. After that, business gets pretty slow. There are the Arthur Dent Foundation on Monday at the Plantation Club, and J.B. and the Activators on Wednesday at Gilrein's.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE: With Lowell's new Tsongas Center attracting the likes of Primus and Liza Minnelli, expect to see fewer shows at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. You should probably expect to see less of Tom Jones, too, now that his 15 minutes of Gen X rediscovery are about to expire. Anyway, you can catch Tom at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium (978-454-2299) on January 31.

Now that Marilyn Manson's moon is in ascent -- how many SPIN covers has his mug graced? -- it's high time we heard from the Damned again, and so we shall. They'll be in Boston in late March, but if you're up for the drive, they're playing Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876), in Providence, on February 4 with Tura Satana -- not the kick-ass broad from Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Ted V. Mikels's Astro Zombies but a LA metal band whose gal singer was named "Most Shaggable" by the furry-palmed readers of the British metal mag Kerrang!

This week in indie rock: Matador label head Gerard Cosloy, formerly of some band called Envelope, shows up at the Green Street Grill (617-876-1655), in Cambridge, with his new band, the Air Traffic Controllers, who describe themselves mainly as "convoluted." They're on an excellent, eccentric five-band bill that includes post-Fall rock by the In/Out and weird jazz stuff with special Japanese guests courtesy of Saturnalia. Also circling the tower: Momus, a British songwriter who does kinda funny, kinda mean songs on cheap electronic equipment. He's on a bill with Stephin Merritt's Future Bible Heroes at the Middle East (617-864-3278), in Cambridge, on February 3, and with Richard Davies and the Difference Engine at the Call (401-751-2255), in Providence, on February 5. The Bush Tetras and Peter Prescott's latest ensemble, the Peer Group (who don't include Yukki Gipe, though Yukki was spotted hammering away last week in Ron "Speedball Baby" Ward's side project, Bottleneck Drag), play the Met Cafe (401-861-2142), in Providence, on February 4, and the next night at T.T. the Bear's Place (617-492-2327), in Cambridge.

-- Carly Carioli