Rock Picks

Wedenesday Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings, Tony Joe White at the Viper Room

Long before she hooked up with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter was already a certified rebel rouser, marrying and touring with twang maestro Duane Eddy. Never one to go the conventional route, Colter sang with a powerful, plaintive style that subsequently made her a key figure in the ’70s Outlaw country insurrection, but she has not been heard from much for 20 years. With her new album, Out of the Ashes, Colter has staked an impressive 21st-century claim with as much artful audacity as ever, and this show, featuring participation from surging country-rock scion Shooter, and a set from incomparable country swamp-funk genius Tony Joe White (who has a whole hell of a lot more than “Polk Salad Annie” going on), several hours of genuine misfit greatness is guaranteed. (Jonny Whiteside)

Thursday, Feb. 16Action Action, Something for Rockets, Men Women & Children at the Roxy

Action Action’s 2004 debut was warmed-over synth rock that seemed to attack other dance-punk third-stringers for committing the same sins of fashionability as Action Action. An Army of Shapes Between Wars, the New York band’s glammy, power-poppy new one, is much more enjoyable; they sound less concerned with getting laid on tour, a development they hopefully don’t come to regret. Locals Something for Rockets make warmed-over synth rock that’s kind of fun anyway. Formed by guitarist Todd Weinstock (an ex-member of Long Island emo-metallists Glassjaw), Men Women & Children are worth showing up early for. On their forthcoming debut, they play flashy, hard-edged disco-funk that wisely reminds you that “you don’t need a reason to get out on the dance floor.” (Mikael Wood)