BLACKFOOT GYPSIES Making Keith Richards’ riffs (circa Exile on Main St.) sound clean by comparison, this raggedy duo meshes rock, blues and country with funky rawness. It’s all in good fun as the blokes rearrange vintage country with a glorious racket that only guitars, drums, and drunken howling can create, when in the right hands, that is. Sure, lo-fi is requisite here, but more akin to treble-laden bombast, not in the crappy sound sense. $7. Double Door Inn.

THE FISHING JOURNAL Part of the burgeoning music scene in the Palmetto state, this trio is the vehicle for the songs of ex-Death Becomes Even the Maiden’s Chris Powell, ex-Restoration drummer Josh Latham and Mercy Shot bassist Reno Gooch. The band’s eponymous six-song EP last year felt like the last decade of synth-pop and glo-stick hippie revivals had never happened, an idea which in general we applaud. Filled with sharp tempo turns, coruscating guitars and hyper-kinetic rhythms, the songs recall everything from Joan of Arc to Slint without pinching too much from any of them. Opening for Secret Hospital, and with Moenda and Jack Toft. $5. Snug Harbor.

THE BOXING LESSON This bass-less Austin trio say they play psychedelic prog, a phrase which too often conjures Rick Wakeman’s robes and cheesy Roger Dean illustrations. But not here, thankfully. Relying on MOOG for bottom end and tons of sonic noise, the songs blend Meddle-era Floyd guitar freak-outs with M83 propulsion, Spiritualized soul space jams with Texas rock ’n’ roll thunder. It’s a hybrid that looks on paper like it can’t — no, shouldn’t — really work. But that, as they say, is why they play the games; somehow it all comes together into something pretty compelling. Touring behind their 2011 EP Muerta and their new 7-inch, Health Is the New Drug. With Concord’s Technology for Nuns and others TBA. $6-$9. The Milestone.

Black Joe Lewis Black Joe Lewis howls his soulful vocals and shreds through blues-driven guitar riffs while horns blare and his band anchors the energetic ship with rock and soul rhythms. Ever wonder what it would sound like if James Brown could wail on guitar or Stevie Ray Vaughn had gotten up off of that thing and brought even more R&B grooves to his swagger? Here’s your answer. Opening up for the always enjoyable Celtic-rock of Flogging Molly.
With Flogging Molly, The Devil Makes Three. $33. 7:30 p.m. The Fillmore Charlotte.

ANTISEEN/THE BELMONT PLAYBOYS A hard rocking double bill of N.C. vets. Promising bloodshed, volume and carnage, redneck sludge-rockers Antiseen had their highest profile backing self-destructive punker/sideshow freak GG Allin. Twenty-one years on, they still hoe an idiosyncratic and insular row that’s equal parts Motorhead and Black Oak Arkansas. Antiseen serves up goofy white trash shtick songs about road kill and pro wrestling while playing raw, uncompromising, anti-hipster grunge rock. In the process, they’ve managed to walk that fine line between parody and integrity. The Belmont Playboys also flirted with the big time in the early ’90s with their brand of punked-up rockabilly. Plenty of Sun Records reverb plus a crisp guitar work avoids the soulless slickness of say, George Thorogood. And while they’ve mellowed over the decades, this is still authentic good time music ­— gritty, sweaty and boozy. With Chow Tiger. $10. Tremont Music Hall.

The New Familiars Local band The New Familiars has always brought a unique sound to the scene with their willingness to interchange steady guitar rhythms with banjo-picking. Bringing their own spin to classic rock ’n’ roll with the influential music of the Appalachia, these four can make you believe you’re at a hoe-down one second and a stadium rock show the next without missing a beat. Their new album Between the Moon & The Morning Light, is a culmination of the five years they’ve spent on the road touring, and has enough country and pop influence in each song to keep you guessing. With Honey Island Swamp Band. $12-$15. Visulite Theatre.

KEVN KINNEY At the height of the ’90s country-rock revival there were those who genuflected at the Drivin’ n Cryin’ altar and liked to lump them in with the Uncle Tupelos and Whiskeytowns, but the fit was never snug — too jam-y and Southern rock by half to these ears. Kinney began moonlighting the solo folkie thing (maybe even in search of the missing “i” from his first name), teaming with fellow Georgians (and others) ranging from R.E.M.’s Peter Buck to the Allman Brothers. But on his latest, A Good Country Mile, he reunites with the Golden Palominos’ Anton Fier to feature new Kinney originals, some Drivin’ n Cryin’ favorites and some covers in an old-fashioned electric guitar barn burner. $10. The Saloon at N.C. Music Factory.

MINUS THE BEAR Seattle-based indie-prog quintet Minus the Bear have been churning out catchy albums since 2001’s This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic. 2010’s OMNI saw them take a more electronic and poppy turn, but their live shows remain both groovy and sensual with singer/guitarist Jake Snider and the rest of the boys masterfully recreating their records’ math-rock riffs and Snider’s lyrics about sex and travel and, well, sex, getting everyone in the mood to dance. $20-$22. Tremont Music Hall.

BRODY & CHOCH/SHINOBI NINJA Charismatic Carolina boys Brody & Choch are hyped as the second coming of DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince. Though their easy charm recalls the days of “Blackenstein” fades and Kid ‘n Play, B&C aren’t ready for the rap nostalgia circuit yet. Throwing down startling and unexpected rhymes over sophisticated, loungey beats, Brody & Choch hew surprisingly close to the intelligent and socially aware tradition of alt hip-hop titans A Tribe Called Quest. “Brooklyn to Babylon,” a cut from Shinobi Ninja’s Attacks EP, is a pretty good signifier of what you get — particularly if you add “boy band” to the mix. Heavy thrash, retro scratching and competent rapping overlays high-energy blue-eyed pop rock with sticky sweet choruses. A bit of bludgeoning Bad Brains reggae and early Beasties brattiness add to an addictive concoction that’s more The Archies than Atari Teenage Riot. Sure, it’s sugary and squeaky clean, but Shinobi Ninja get props for pushing the party band envelope. With Soul Khan, Mr. Invisible and D&D Sluggers. $7-$10. Neighborhood Theatre.

The Ghost Wolves Think of them as an inverted Texas-based hybrid of The White Stripes. This duo — female singer/guitarist and male drummer — provides raw, energetic rock that sounds more like it came from the Voodoo-soaked streets of New Orleans or back alleys of New York City than the farmlands of Texas. Punk sensibility, blues style, crashing drums, scattershot harmonies and moments of folk simplicity define the band’s six-song EP, In Ya Neck!. $10. 10:30 p.m. The Evening Muse.