Rock Picks: Amy Millan, Dirty Projectors, Chip Taylor, LA 101

Also playing Sunday:

Basement Jaxx plays Hard Haunted Mansion on Halloween night

R. Kelly delivers the hot, buttered funk at the Nokia Theatre on Thursday.

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More About

• James Taylor
• Dinosaur Jr.
• Tahiti
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop
• Halloween

DAM-FUNK at Amoeba Music; PHISH at Empire Polo Field (Coachella); TIMES NEW VIKING, SIC ALPS, AXEMEN at the Echo; ASHFORD & SIMPSON at the Canyon; JUNKYARD, PAGING BETO at the Redwood Bar; SO MANY WIZARDS, PIZZA!, OLD BLOOD, FORT WIFE at Spaceland.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2

The Happy Hollows, Pepper Rabbit, Dirt Dress at Spaceland
The Happy Hollows are such an East Side staple that it’s hard to believe the band has only just put out its debut LP. The punky art-rockers self-released Spells in the first week of October, which was part of the problem: as recently as March, the band was signed to Nettwerk. The label pulled out for reasons still unknown, but the trio, led by the charismatic Sara Negahdari, seems no worse for wear. Spells is a challenging but wholly rewarding record, rolling Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Pixies and Deerhoof into one big ball of yelpy but pop-driven angular angst. This is the first night of their November residency at Spaceland, a month of shows that include appearances from Widow Babies, the Drums, Dios and the Pity Party to name a talented few. Opening night promises a special guest, in addition to the lilting chamber folk of Pepper Rabbit and the minimal scuzz of Dirt Dress. (Chris Martins)

Also playing Monday:

WHITE RABBITS, GLASS GHOST, LOCAL NATIVES at El Rey Theatre; SHONEN KNIFE at the Echo; REZUREX, VIERNES 13, LOS CREEPERS, THE HOWLERS, OTHERS at the Echoplex; THE KEVIN O’DAY BAND, DJ QUICKIE MART at the Mint; I.E., DISCO BUNNY, BASTIDAS, HELLO MY NAME IS RED at Pehrspace; BLIND BOY PAXTON & FRANK FAIRFIELD VARIETY SHOW at the Redwood Bar; SHAKEY GRAVES, MISSISSIPPI MAN, AMANDA JO WILLIAMS, DIETRA KRUSCHEV at the Silverlake Lounge.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

LA 101 feat. Silversun Pickups, Matt & Kim, Dandy Warhols, Dengue Fever at Gibson Amphitheatre
All right, look, it’s our party — we’ll brag if we want to: LA 101 is L.A. Weekly’s new annual musical extravaganza, and to headline the inaugural edition, we’re proud to say we’ve snagged one of L.A.’s best (and most ambitious) young rock outfits, Silversun Pickups, whose Swoon from earlier this year is a dream-pop stunner sure to satisfy Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine fans alike. Also on the main-stage bill: Brooklyn’s liveliest boy-girl organ-drums duo, Matt & Kim; local Cambodian-American globe-trippers Dengue Fever; and Portland’s Dandy Warhols, who’ve been churning out their tunefully cracked brand of psych-garage boogie for nearly a decade and a half. You’ll also find a KROQ-sponsored second stage featuring Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, Aushua and Funeral Party, as well as lots and lots of top-shelf food. (Mikael Wood)

DEVO at the Henry Fonda Theater
Let’s say it up front: Old-time punkers and new wavers haven’t aged as gracefully up there onstage as their more traditional rock and blues compadres. Urgent youth-directed calls to action don’t seem so urgent coming from grandpa’s mouth. But Devo, recall, are mutants, so all bets are off, and their performances in the last few years have been as furious, fiery and fun as they no doubt were at the beginning of their career (early 1970s, Akron, Ohio). Tonight Devo, who have been based in Los Angeles for most of their half-life, perform the entirety of their seminal Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, released in 1977. The band recorded the album with Brian Eno in Germany at one of the most important European studios of the era, Konrad Plank’s Conny’s Place studios, where a lot of the classic krautrock of the time — early Kraftwerk, Neu! and Cluster — was put to tape. It’s an odd and intense record: “Uncontrollable Urge” is one of the great male adolescent hunger songs ever recorded, the cover of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” is unrivaled, and “Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin’)” is just plain weird. Indeed, if you can fault Devo, it’s for introducing the “weird” gene that spawned some of the silliest excesses of the new wave (see: Oingo Boingo). But Devo were, and are, so much more. Their songs are rock solid. Seamless. Compact. Urgent. Don’t miss. If you must, at least you’ll be able to see them tomorrow night, when they perform the entirety of their third album, Freedom of Choice, which is, arguably, an even better record. It’s got “Gates of Steel,” after all. (Randall Roberts)

Lucero, Jack Oblivian, John Paul Keith & The One Four Fives at the Echoplex
Jack Oblivian might not be a household name, but he’s a primary influence on the White Stripes, the Detroit Cobras and Mr. Airplane Man. Former L.A. trio the Ettes, who were just in town, have covered a bunch of his songs in their short career. The Memphis man has been in a zillion bands, including the Oblivians, the Compulsive Gamblers, the Cool Jerks, the Tennessee Tearjerkers and Tav Falco’s Panther Burns. Whether he’s playing garage-rock, roots, R&B or blues, he makes everything seem more primitive and stripped down while always digging up catchy melodies underneath all the fuzzed-out, reverb-saturated, overly distorted chaos. Openers John Paul Keith & the One Four Fives have a more countrified sound, but they rock up Ritchie Valens’ “Come On, Let’s Go” with a convincing fervor, much like a punky Crickets. Headliners and fellow Memphians Lucero work a louder, fuller, more typical Southern rock style. At their best, they evoke the late, great Texas band Slobberbone. At their worst, they sound too much like the not-so-great Black Crowes and John Mellencamp. (Falling James)