Rock Picks: New York Dolls, Lizz Wright, Brother Ali

Also playing Monday:

ED HARCOURT, THE CHAPIN SISTERS at the Echoplex; DANDI WIND, ARI SHINE at the Knitting Factory.

Kip Kubin

Landon Pigg contemplates the mysteries of E-major.

Skye Rossi

Brother Ali: His aim is true.

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More About

• Dale Hawkins
• Big Jay McNeely
• Lizz Wright
• Landon Pigg
• Henry Fonda

TUESDAY, MARCH 11

Landon Pigg at the Knitting Factory

Upon opening Landon Pigg's MySpace page, I wondered why such a prolific young songwriter was promoting the hell out of a cover tune — only to discover that "Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" isn't some early-'70s chestnut revisited, after all. The song's uber-familiarity is due to its use on an ubiquitous television-ad campaign (for diamonds). Yep, jingles are the new singles. In person, Pigg's a distracted, wild-haired Ashton Kutcher look-alike with a motor-mouth foaming with pearls of charisma — a Nashville-based, knee-weakening prodigy who'd have landed a record deal in any of rock & roll's eras. His own compositions on his debut album, LP (geddit?), are contemplative Rufus Wainwright-y expressions with just enough Britpop in their Americana — and just enough melancholic melodic surprises — to keep Pigg on the right side of oh-so-sensitive, post-Dashboard Confessional dorm-room rock. (Paul Rogers)

Also playing Tuesday:

SHERYL CROW at El Rey Theatre; ATLAS SOUND, WHITE RAINBOW at the Echo; AM, BUDDY, SUSIE SUH at the Hotel Cafe; BAD RELIGION at House of Blues; AZALIA SNAIL at Molly Malone's; MAGIC CHRISTIAN at Safari Sam's.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12

Playing Wednesday:

DEATH TO ANDERS, THAILAND at the Echo; MAD PROFESSOR at the Echoplex; BAD RELIGION, CHUCK RAGAN at House of Blues; BING JI LING at the Roxy; OLLIN at Seven Grand; CAT HAIR ENSEMBLE, CREEKBIRD at the Bordello.

THURSDAY, MARCH 13

Brother Ali at the Troubadour

The truth is here and — not coincidently — so is Brother Ali. The albino Minneapolis rapper might be white, but he's no foolish Vanilla Ice dilettante. The devout Muslim doesn't just sound black, he combines the full force of his thoughtful and rebellious rhymes with the understanding of 400 years of oppression and slavery, powered by every outsider's secret weapon: truth. Truth is relative, but Ali's 2007 CD, The Undisputed Truth (Rhymesayers), examines the vanishing concept from all angles, from the personal to the political, to come up with a new, clearer understanding. "You don't need to hear my race in the song ... Your ears might help you to see," he suggests on "Daylight." He delves into reggae rhythms on "Freedom Ain't Free" but never strays far from the cold, hard realities of the slinky-funky "Uncle Sam Goddamn" ("Welcome to the United Snakes") and the somberly grooving "Letter From the Government" ("I ain't dying for no president, sending kids to die when we didn't even elect the bitch"). Liner-note testimonials from Rakim, Saul Williams and Umar Bin Hassan underscore Brother Ali's impact. (Falling James)

George Tabb benefit at Safari Sam's

Remember when you watched the World Trade Center towers fall and wondered about all that dust everyone was inhaling as they fled? Remember how you forgot all about it because who did you know who was actually there? Well, now you know someone. George Tabb — venerable punk activist and Maximum Rock 'n' Roll columnist — has World Trade Center Syndrome, a malady from which countless thousands of firefighters and citizens suffer, and the number's dropping all the time, if you catch my meaning. Tabb, age 46, has PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease — translation: kidney calluses that create a kind of agony at which even Satan winces) as a result of him living near Ground Zero, and, to help defray the costs of his medical expenses, all ticket revenues tonight go toward that end. Mike Watt & the Missingmen open up, along with Money Mark, the Latin funk of OO Soul, the garage-psych stylings of Woolly Bandits, former Zappa guitarist Mike Keneally and others. (David Cotner)

Also playing Thursday:

CLUTCH, MURDER BY DEATH, MAYLENE & THE SONS OF DISASTER at Henry Fonda Theater; SAY ANYTHING, MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA, BIFFY CLYRO at Avalon; STAN RIDGWAY at the Canyon; ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, DANAVA at the Echoplex; NELLIE McKAY at Largo; OLLIN at Seven Grand.