Rock Picks: Supersuckers, Bloc Party, Melvins

Belinda Carlisle, Rufus Wainwright at Disney Hall

Belinda Carlisle used to be in the Go-Go’s, and tonight she and Rufus Wainwright will ring in 2008 with two sets of French-cabaret-inspired singing-dancing-and-more. Ergo: “Paris à Go-Go: New Year’s Eve in Paris.” Clever (and cute), right? Wainwright you know can handle the material: He’s been dropping bits of French chanson into his act for years as a sort of tribute to his folky-utopian upbringing in Montreal; plus, as his new Rufus-as-Judy live album demonstrates, dude’s as much an actor as a singer (even if he was born to play himself). Surprisingly, though, Carlisle is actually Wainwright’s equal when it comes to putting across stuff from the baguette-and-brie book. On Voilà, her recent all-French CD, she affects an appealing (and appropriate) mix of sly and sexy without sacrificing the spunk that once enabled her to convince us she had the beat. At 7 and 10:30 p.m. (Mikael Wood)

Are you ready for some Hank III? (Photo by Mike Boles)

Not just your everyday ordinary Suckers... (PHOTO BY STEPHANIE NEAL)

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More About

• David Cotner
• Hank Williams III
• Kevin Shields
• Hip-Hop and Rap
• Knitting

TUESDAY, Jan. 1

HAPPY NEW YEAR! You're on your own.

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2

JIMMY GNECCO, APRIL BAUER, STATIC at the Hotel Cafe

THURSDAY, Jan 3

Babyland, Captain Ahab, The Mae Shi at the Smell

The Smell’s Ten Year Anniversary Series barrels into 2008 like a truckload of dead rats in a tampon factory with the stomach-bashing pulsebeat of Los Angeles’ electro elite. Babyland, edging into their second decade of danceable punk junk funk, roll out their oil drums and computers to create the kind of musical voice that power lines would have if they could be shocked themselves. On the other hook, Captain Ahab created tracks for the soundtrack to the impressively violent Wrong Turn 2, starring Henry Rollins, delivering their filthy disco with a beat that urges even Templar bankers to shake their moneymakers. Longtime Smell stalwarts the Mae Shi play tonight before going on tour with the Germs and Adolescents, unveiling tracks from their upcoming HLLLYH LP, early samples of which promise a triumphal, advanced level of hi-hatted body-moving. Also: Electrocute, Dommm, Lucky Dragons. (David Cotner)