FRIDAY
8:15 p.m. PORTASTATIC. What started out as Mac McCaughan’s quieter, prettier side project from Superchunk has turned rockier and peppier on the new “Be Still Please” album. Knitting Factory.
8:30 p.m. JOSEPH ARTHUR. Backed by a rocking new band, Joseph Arthur can release his inner Jagger as he struts through his happiest and, yes, sexiest album in years, “Nuclear Daydream.” Southpaw.
9 p.m. SECRET MACHINES. The Brooklyn transplants keep a tight rein on their neo-prog rock, balancing grand atmospherics with taut guitar riffs and sharp lyrics. Warsaw.
10 p.m. BLACK KEYS. The Akron, Ohio, guitar-drums duo’s new “Magic Potion” album is so packed with powerful blues-rock it should bury those White Stripes comparisons once and for all. Nokia Theater Times Square.
11 p.m. MEW. Denmark’s Mew is like a time machine back to the early ‘90s, when shoegazers walked the earth and every hipster wanted to sound like Lush. Bowery Ballroom. (Stick around for Aussie charmers The Grates at midnight.)
12:30 a.m. JUCIFER. Guitars so loud, you think they will rip your face off. Luckily, Amber Valentine’s cool vocals will keep a smile in place. Ace of Clubs.
1 a.m. LONGWAVE. Judging from the swirling, dreamy new stuff on its website, Longwave’s follow-up to last year’s standout “There’s a Fire” will be just as impressive. Mercury Lounge.
SATURDAY
7:15 p.m. CHRIS CONLEY. The Saves the Day frontman goes solo and acoustic. Knitting Factory.
7:45 p.m. THE SCOTLAND YARD GOSPEL CHOIR. If Belle and Sebastian were from Chicago and, you know, not suddenly preoccupied by disco and frogs, they would sound like this. Fat Baby. (Also 1 p.m. at Union Pool.)
9:15 p.m. THE FALL. Hey! Luciani! The future’s here today! Oh Mark E. Smith, how you’ve been missed. Hiro Ballroom.
11 p.m. THE WATSON TWINS. Before they hooked up with Jenny Lewis, the Watson Twins were still singing alt-country in sweet harmony. Irving Plaza.