FOXY SHAZAM Unabashed courtiers in Queen's throne room, Foxy Shazam is savvy enough to recall that Freddie Mercury's boys once packed a subversive punch. It's no accident that Queen's "We Are the Champions" is both a gay anthem and a fist-pumping super straight jock-rocker. Shazam's showboating singer-cum-prom-queen Eric Sean Nally can't touch the firepower of that Queen classic, but the Slade-style stomper "Unstoppable" comes awfully close. Blasting out a maelstrom of loud guitar, fat piano, over-the-top theatrics and double-kickdrums, Foxy Shazam are neither airless glam pastiche like The Darkness, nor bloat and bombast signifying nothing (that would be Meatloaf). Instead, they take a cue from yet another forebear, Sparks, earnestly pushing a witty, self-effacing message through a camp filter. It helps that the catchy, sticky sweet songs are fun, and that the lyrics are life-affirming without Andrew W.K.'s stink of desperation. Is Foxy Shazam straight-edge or send up? The answer is both. With Stars in Stereo, and Manic. $10.65-$12. 7 p.m. Amos' Southend.

REEL BIG FISH The ska-punk re-revival of the 1990s may have waned, but Cali's Reel Big Fish is still rocking the "kids" nearly 20 years since the band's debut. RBF's infectious and spastic show, laden with corny humor, remains a must-see for fans of the genre and party types everywhere. The group may not break the charts like Sublime, No Doubt or Rancid did, but these cats still bounce onto the stage, horns blazing, and have a grand old time. Their 2009 covers album, Fame, Fortune and Fornication, is a blast, with one of the funkiest versions of "Brown Eyed Girl" ever committed to tape. With Goldfinger and Big D and the Kids Table. $27. 7 p.m. The Fillmore.

THE ADULTERERS Based on the songs of Scott Ayan and Adam O'Neill, the band has released a compelling seven-song collection called Petite Mort - otherwise known as the "little death," a euphemism for orgasm, in case you wondered what a band called The Adulterers might concern itself with. A bit obvious, perhaps, but aided and abetted by the likes of Great Architect reedsman Brent Bagwell, violinist David Sleigh, drummer Clayton Yunt and ex-Van Gough's Ear members Jim and Daisy Payseur, the band creates a dark, texturally rich swirl of blues- and folk-based songs that, er, seduces. Ayan, as vocalist, has obviously fallen under Nick Cave's spell, so starting with the Bad Seeds and Dirty Three, then moseying over to 16 Horsepower and Tindersticks, will land you in The Adulterers' sonic neighborhood. They don't quite rise to those lofty heights, but those are some quality neighbors to emulate. With Hectorina and Moenda. Patchwerk Playhaus.

KONY Lo-fi is everywhere now, and it can be tricky to judge its merits. Too often, intentionally primitive production serves no aesthetic purpose. But on Kony's quick-and-dirty home-recorded EP Island, lo-fi isn't a gimmick. With traumatized, detuned guitars and desperate, poetic rants lost in a noisy, crackling mix, this Charlotte band's brand of hardcore is vulnerable and nihilistic - a far cry from the music's historical "strength in numbers" idealism. And the red-lined, feedback-overloaded mix on Island may even be the exact flip of the band's namesake. Remember the problematic Kony film that made the social-media rounds a few months ago? It simplified a complex problem and quickly collapsed in on itself. By contrast, this Kony starts from the point of a collapse - "I fell like a TV that was thrown off a bridge," as they put it - and delivers pure, crushing existential angst. Kony rages not against the dying of the light, but against the light that never shined. With Barrow, Oddczar, Leaderless, and Historic. $6-$9. 9 p.m. The Milestone.

CHIDDY BANG This Philadelphia rap duo had been chugging away for years before its studio debut, Breakfast, dropped to moderate success in February. The truth is, you run across the band's music everywhere - video games, commercials, restaurants - but its interactive live show is where the group built a following. Some would call the Chiddy Bang's mash-up of hip-hop and indie rock "frat rap," which the good-life, good-times rhymes support, but there's some uniqueness to it. In past trips - most recently, as opening act for Diplo's April surprise show at the Neighborhood Theatre - Chiddy Bang has offered engaging freestyles on all things Queen City, from the Bobcats to NASCAR. It's that kind of personalization that's made fans believers that the duo is much more than just a party band. Havana Brown is also on the bill. $15-$50. 8 p.m. Amos' Southend.

JUNIOR ASTRONOMERS Junior Astronomers may be simply reinventing the wheel, but they're good at it. Said wheel includes The Replacements' ramshackle-but-right attack, the spacey, sun-burnt lyrics of early Meat Puppets, loud-soft Pixies dynamics plus nimble and melodic guitar that recalls The Strokes' glory days. Throw in the passion and commitment of Ted Leo and you've got the entire syllabus for Indie Rock 101. By now, that indie rock template is just as beholden to signifiers of the past as Americana, and JA's sound does not stray off the map. But none of that matters when Junior Astronomers take the stage. Charismatic and idiosyncratic front man Terrence Richard forges a near-psychic connection with the crowd, and the band's playing is heartfelt and authentic. Gigging for five years, with two EPs plus a forthcoming LP under their belt, Junior Astronomers are primed for bigger things. It remains to be seen if they can break out of their self-imposed stylistic mold. With Manray, Lazer/Wulf, and The Air Station. $7-$10. 9 p.m. Tremont Music Hall.

MANRAY On first glance, Athens, Ga.'s Manray may seem like just another group of angry young guys in black t-shirts playing heavy music. But there's more to this five-piece than ink-saturated skin, snarling vocals and a requisite shirtless drummer. Referred to by one local music writer as "complicated-core," Manray play experimental hardcore melodic enough to draw in folks who don't usually listen to music that requires earplugs. Named after the envelope-pushing, avant-garde photographer of the early 1900s, Manray blurs the lines between punk, hardcore and math-rock. The resulting literate, face-melting tunes give Manray a broad appeal that has earned the band the status of one of the most respected acts in its music-minded hometown. With Junior Astronomers, Lazer/Wulf, and The Air Station. $7-$10. 9 p.m. Tremont Music Hall.

TENACIOUS D Purveyors of comic rock range from squishy, sub-par GWAR to the sublimely ridiculous Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. Tenacious D doesn't aspire to the inspired lunacy of the Bonzos; the duo is pretty much a one-joke band - but it's a good joke. Rotund, unlikely rockers Jack Black and Kyle Gass strum acoustic guitars in front of crack session players, convinced they are the Best Rock Band in the World! Their committed cluelessness is amusing. Gass plays put-upon straight man to Black's likeable but too-eager-to-please update on Gene Wilder's hair-trigger mania. Like the twosome's big-league mentor Dave Grohl, TD makes immaculately arranged, well-played music that lacks killer songs. Much is made of the duo's metal mania, but they owe more to classic rock - the mystic warrior folderol of Wishbone Ash mixed with the regurgitated "Devil's Music" bullshit of the Charlie Daniels Band. Black and Gass have a hard time lampooning this stuff because it's already self-parody, and they only find their mojo when they stick to potty humor and dick jokes. $40. 8 p.m. The Fillmore.

TOMMY CASTRO Tommy Castro is a funky soul man with a blues implant in his heart. The San Francisco-based singer/guitarist can cover Wilson Pickett's panther scream and Otis' grits-and-soul delivery as easily as John Lee Hooker's hoodoo boogie riddims. Recently, Castro found a new career leading jams aboard the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruises. With his stripped down 4-piece outfit the Painkillers, Castro recalls Stax Records' '60s r&b sound mixed in with blues Kings Freddy, Albert and B.B. Part of Castro's appeal is his generosity toward fellow players. Everybody in his band and his jams is allowed a voice and a time to express themselves, as he learned to do while honing his skills in Charlie Musselwhite's backup ensemble, the Dynatones. Castro's guitar screams as soulfully as his vocals while the Painkillers dig a groove you can wallow in. It's a rare opportunity to see one of Bay area's finest. $15. Double Door Inn.

THE YOUNG The early output from this Texas outfit made it seem like leader Hans Zimmerman was intent on playing down his roots - the fuzzy guitars, lo-fi percussion and punk rock tempos located the band closer to Brooklyn than Austin. But the group's latest, Dub Egg, radiates big-sky Texas. There are obvious moments, like the pedal steel-flecked shuffle "Only Way Out," but the other psych rock flavors should be familiar to fans of another Austin-based group - the 13th Floor Elevators - who have clearly laid their psychedelic hand on the fevered brow of the Young's Matador Records debut, and to good effect, too. With Little Bull Lee. $5. 9 p.m. Snug Harbor.