Heavy Dates

Worcester's newest hard-rockin' sensation God Stands Still have been packing them in during their brief existence. They're loud, they're heavy, and they dress in black, so they're always fashionable too. They lead this weekend's pack of talent with a show this Friday, October 30, at the Espresso Bar. Forty Days Rain, SicSixSic, and Fallen also make noise. At Sir Morgan's Cove it's the one-night-only return of Furious Dance, one of the big mosh bands from the early-'90s scene, which is also one of the low points of local music, as far as not stinking is concerned. Anyhoo, here's a chance to re-live the good old days before Bill Gates ruled the free world and Kurt Cobain was more than a stain on the wall. 7 Hill Psychos and Boys Attic also make the scene. Saturday, it's Halloween, and there's plenty going on starting with Rancid at the Palladium. When not being slagged because they sound too much like the Clash (usually by the same morons who write monthly "sell-out" editorials to Maximum RockandRoll. Zzzzzzzz . . . ) these boys are generally regarded as one of the current Greats of punk rock. Get to the show early to catch the fabulous Ducky Boys, one of Beantown's current best, who are also headed for bigger things, like "sell-out" letters to Maximum RockandRoll. Meanwhile, Gilrein's hosts a killer one-two combo of the Trio Gonyea Trio opening for the Duke Robillard Band. Swing, daddy, swing to a pair of the finer practitioners of jump blues. Boston's pop-punkers, the Deniros have been keeping a low profile of late. They headline a bill at Dinny's along with the Ape Hangers and the Free Radicals, while Chillum lead the festivities over at Sir Morgan's Cove. H8 Machine, White Knuckle Sobriety, and the Pathetics also play. Also on Saturday, it's the start of the Worcester Phoenix Fall Music Series with an appearance by Recycled Dysfunction. On Sunday, Halloween continues at the Palladium with the appearance of Rob Zombie, who's touring in support of his solo album, Hellbilly. The much-adored Monster Magnet also hit the stage. On Monday, November 2, the Space hosts Bonfire Madigan and Sarah Woolf. Finally, Thursday, November 5, marks the return of Jason James and the Bay State Houserockers to Gilrein's. Last time out, they drove the crowd into a shakin' fit with their revved-up mix of the blues, rockabilly, and soul music.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE: As a drum-guitar duo, Seattle's 764-HERO put out one pretty good album and one stellar EP (We're Solids) of fitful, elegiac indie pop, sort of like Karate overdosing on early Smiths or something. They've added a bass player and released more of the same, Get Here and Stay (Up!), only with twice the hooks. That endorsement out of the way, we're ready for our Matt Pinfield moment. The new HERO bassist, James Bertram (ex-Lync), played in a pre-Warner Bros line-up of Built To Spill, and the HEROic ones are now opening for -- you guessed it -- Built To Spill on October 30 at the Middle East, (617) 864-3278, in Cambridge. Built To Spill's drummer, Scott Plouf, used to be in a guitar-drums duo you might have heard of called the Spinanes; lo and behold, the Spinanes, whom singer/guitarist Rebecca Gates has fleshed out into a full band, are at the Iron Horse, (413) 584-0610, in Northampton, on November 4. Meanwhile, on November 3 at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence, 764-HERO open for the re-formed Sunny Day Real Estate, whose members took a couple years off to find God and Dave Grohl -- they really aren't the same person: God just thinks she's Dave Grohl -- before recording their third album for Sub Pop earlier this year. Now that the emo kids revere Sunny Day as, like, godfathers of the genre or something, they've turned into a stingy, obtuse mess only the Big Guy upstairs could love. And to bring it all home again, Sunny Day hit Karma Club, (617) 421-9595, in Boston -- by themselves -- on November 4.

And finally, when an artist releases an album of cover tunes, he's either making one last attempt at scoring a hit record or paying tribute to those who inspired him by recording their songs and putting a few extra coins into their retirement fund. Unfortunately, Townes Van Zandt and Walter Hyatt passed away before they could hear Lyle Lovett's Step Inside This House, which includes four songs composed by each of them. The rest of you can hear them when Lovett appears at the newly remodeled Calvin Theatre, (413) 586-8686, in Northampton, on November 6.

-- Carly Carioli and Brian Goslow