Heavy Dates

Local blues stompers Fatwall Jack have a disc hot off the press called Girl Next Door, which happens to be a pretty darn good slice of swing, juiced-up gospel soul, and smooth jazz. It features the sultry voice of Erica Rodney and some stellar horn-tootin' complements from the Cadillac Horns. Plus, Girl boasts four solid original numbers. And don't think that's not a big deal. As far as the blues go, you'd be surprised how many acts couldn't write an original tune (or put a decent personalized spin on a cover) to save their sorry asses. Celebrate with the Jack Attack this Friday at Framingham's Chicken Bone Saloon (or Saturday when they hit John Stone's Inn, in Ashland). Elsewhere on Friday, the Wildcats do a little celebrating of their own at Gilrein's with their newest CD, the name of which slipped our mind almost as quickly as our pointer finger fumbled with the eject button on the disc player. For those ready to stomp and shout and work it all out, the Plantation Club features the always-agreeable stylings of Clutch Grabwell, and the Lucky Dog has local rapcore kingpins Seven Hill Psychos. And it wouldn't be the same down at the Java Hut without a monthly visit from Phoenix folk-fave Dan Hart.

Saturday, 1998 finally arrives in Worm City with a gig from those mighty electronic trance-makers Crystal Method, who headline at the Palladium. Orbital and the Low-Fidelity All-Stars also make the scene. Or you can trip-out the old-fashioned way, just like dear old dad use to, by checking into the Tammany Club and catching a psych set from Another Planet. Across town at the Plantation Club, Jack and Present Co. release their self-titled disc, while at the Lucky Dog, Interstellar cross the finish line as the First '90s Tribute Act (just when we were finally getting accustomed to that Escape Club song, nostalgia had to go and dust us). There's also an opening set from the Martin Daniels Mercenaries, the unintentional, yet too-apt, tribute to sucking. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Mercenaries. To MDM: lousy bands hurt everyone -- other bands on the bill, critics who suffered through your self-important but hackneyed demo, loved ones who force themselves to go see you play out of loyalty, and ultimately yourselves. For the love of God, stop all this senseless pain. Please, stop the sucking. Break up.

Has it really been four years since Sponge were all over MTV with that yummy "Molly (Sixteen Candles)"? More important, do you think Interstellar cover it? Check out the boys from Detroit Rock City when they headline Commercial Street on Monday in support of their third album, New Pop Sunday (Beyond) and a pretty good new tune called "Live Here Without You." We're also fond of the new wave-ish jangle of "1000 Times." Seattle's Second Coming (as in grunge?) and Downchild open.

-- John O'Neill

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

If Puffy Combs gets convicted on his assault charges, he could always just ask the judge to let him go on tour with techno bigwigs Orbital and the Crystal Method, who have conveniently titled their package "Community Service." They'll serve a few hours along with Lo-Fidelity Allstars at Worcester's Palladium on Saturday, July 10.

Salem gets the blues this weekend thanks to the Winter Island Blues Festival, (617) 423-6398, which in its fourth year has produced a sizzling slate of top-notch talent. Perhaps the most storied R&B ensemble of them all, Booker T. and the MG's, bring Stax voltage to the grounds on July 10, along with an undercard including Another Planet, Boston's outstanding Delta-style duo Mr. Airplane Man, the Miracle Orchestra, Entrain, I-Was-A-Teenage-Allman-Brother dude Derek Trucks, and Jazz Is Dead. Then on Sunday the voodoo-beat man himself, Bo Diddley, stars atop a bill with Shemekia Copeland, the Slip, the Jazz Mandolin Project, and Entrain and Jazz Is Dead again.

Overlapping the Winter Island Fest -- but falling safely before Phish's sold-out two-night stand at the Tweeter Center July 12 and 13 -- is the fourth annual Ho-Down put on by local jam-band fiends Schleigho. You can camp out and hear the likes of Electric Blue and the Kozmik Truth, Soulive, Actual Proof, Percy Hill, the Jazz Mandolin Project (again), the Miracle Orchestra (yep, them too), the Slip (um, you get the picture), and more, starting Friday, July 9 at 5 p.m. and running from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Wendell State Forest, (914) 923-4300, in Wendell, Massachusetts.

Elsewhere, former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera leads his Soulfly into battle at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, (401) 272-5876, in Providence, on July 12 along with Neurosis, Hatebreed, and Willhaven; Cavalera's crew hook up with Iron Maiden and Monster Magnet for West Coast dates next month. Grade-B punk rock hits the Met Café, (401) 861-2142, in Providence, on July 8 courtesy of AFI and 88 Fingers Louie. And aging wiseacre George Carlin cracks large in two suburban hemispheres -- the North Shore Music Theatre, (978) 232-7200, in Beverly, on July 12, and the South Shore Music Circus, (781) 383-1400, in Cohasset, on July 13.

-- Carly Carioli