THE CARPENTER ANTS Even after 25 years, The Carpenter Ants still sound like they're having fun. The band's latest release, "Ants & Uncles", keeps the same retro blend of honky tonk, blues, and soul with playful lyrics about everything from "hillbilly moonshine" to trips to Chinatown.

The West Virginia band has certainly made their way around over the years — The Carpenter Ants have had four albums produced by Don Dixon, played a presidential election tour for Jesse Jackson, toured in Moscow twice, appeared on NPR's "Whad'Ya Know?" and "Mountain Stage", opened for the likes of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Paul Thorn, and Gov't Mule and have backed Kevin Coyne on tour. Thanks to band member and manager Michael Lipton, who founded the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame and works on "Mountain Stage", "Mountain Stage" guests Radney Foster, Bill Lloyd, Jimmy LaFave, Solas, Mollie O'Brien, Hayes Carll, Terry Reid, Ben Sollee, Dwight Twilley, The Alternate Routes, Rodney Crowell, Robyn Hitchcock, Taj Mahal, and Luther Allison to jam with the band after the show.

Any band that has been playing for this long definitely has talent, but The Carpenter Ants have also managed to keep their infectious energy. Free. Rodi, Gastonia.

SCREAMING FEMALES It's not that we music writers aren't allowed to mention Hendrix, it's just that we rarely bother. Right now, for instance, I want to say Screaming Females guitarist Marissa Paternoster's playing kinda-sorta reminds me of his. But I'm a bit nervous to do so, I'm scared the Creative Loafing site will be inundated by commenters with names like HendrixIsAGod69 and BluesHammer420, seeking hot-headed retribution for my heretical beliefs. The culture of "greatest guitarist of all time" - as if it's the kind of thing that can be proven objectively, or at all - really gets in the way of an even-headed discussion. All I really want to say is that the emotional impact of the New Jersey garage rocker's fretwork is directly tied to her mastery of the instrument. With Ceremony and Joint D≠. $10. Haunted Mill.

CEREMONY This is so Charlotte - weeks with little out-of-town music to get excited about, and then two quality punk shows on the same night ... thank you, Jesus. Anyway, the hardcore kids dispute whether Ceremony fits that genre at all, and a 30-second-spin of this California band's recent songs - especially those off its latest, this year's Zoo - tells you the band has turned for inspiration toward Wire, the Pistols and the Buzzcocks and (way) away from Black Flag or Ceremony's own Bay area progenitors, the Dead Kennedys. It's still fast if somewhat less furious, and that melody thing has definitely become more important, so your mileage will vary depending on your punk proclivities. With Screaming Females and Joint D≠. $10. Haunted Mill.

DAN SARTAIN To the nouveau garagistes and punk-friendly, Sartain is a prolific gift from above - or the past. His latest, Too Tough To Live (cover painting by local stud-ette artiste Kelly Keith, by the way), delivers 13 tracks in just under 19 minutes and is a label-described tribute to the era when "punk was real." With that track-to-minutes ratio, you guessed it, Sartain is exercising his "one-two-three-four!" Ramones' muscle here. But he's also dabbled in everything from rockabilly to dark spaghetti twang, so there's more to his music quiver as well. If you like your oysters raw... this gig's for you. With local ODBs Temperance League and Babyshaker. $10. The Milestone.

GHOST WOLVES This is an instance of a new band transcending both its influences and the inherent gimmick of a purposefully anachronistic style. Blanco, Texas, guitar-and-drums duo Ghost Wolves plays visceral, pounding blues-rock. Yeah, I know, The White Stripes and The Black Keys got there first. But Ghost Wolves, refreshingly rowdy and reckless, avoids those bands' self-seriousness. Overdrive becomes a living, breathing, tangible thing in Carley Wolf's slide guitar work, while Jonny Wolf's insistent bass drum drives the duo's stomp-and-shout. Are those real last names? Can't be. With Uncle Lucius. $8. The Evening Muse.

BLIND PILOT Now a robust sextet consisting of a wide range of instruments from trumpet to banjo, Portland's Blind Pilot radiates sweet warmth with their indie-folk-pop songs. The band is most famous for completing a West Coast tour on bicycle, and its live shows are certainly worth the effort. Blind Pilot maintains an intimate connection with the audience in its shows - the band often finishes out a set by performing an entirely acoustic song to a hushed audience. The music may be nothing new, but it is certainly well-performed and charmingly earnest. $15. Neighborhood Theatre.

AQUALADS You can practically hear the waves crashing within these Charlotte natives' music, which hearkens back to the days of The Chantays and Dick Dale. Formed in 1997, Aqualads have stayed loyal to the genre of '60s instrumental surf-rock through tremolo guitar picking and heavy reverb. With four albums under its belt, the quartet spends June as the artist-in-residence at Snug Harbor. Aqualads' lineup has gone through changes over the years, but current members Darrell Ussery, Jimmy King, Jeremy DeHart and Greg Walsh consistently deliver tight, groovy instrumental lines that recall sand, surf and high-waisted bathing suits. 9 p.m. Free. Snug Harbor.