Music Picks: Rome, The xx, Aretha Franklin

Also playing:

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE at the Roxy; RAY DAVIES at Wiltern; RINGO STAR at Greek Theatre; FACE TO FACE at Troubadour; THE HAPPY HOLLOWS, MAGIC WANDS at Bootleg Bar.

PHOTO BY MARY ANN HALPIN

Jennifer Leitham: See Thursday.

PHOTO BY ANGEL CEBALLOS

Foxygen: See Monday.

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More About

• The xx (Band)
• John Leitham
• Smokey Robinson
• Theater
• Off-Broadway

sun 7/22

I See Hawks in L.A.

ECHO

It's country music, after all, and it wouldn't be any fun if it weren't kind of a bummer. See, that's what I See Hawks in L.A. understand all too well, so when you're feeling this little elation at the unfamiliar ways the band's folky Americana and classic Californ-y country rock stretch the emotional terrain on their recent A New Kind of Lonely, well, you ain't gotta scratch your head, 'cause that effect was intentional. The band's alternative-country vision is presented here in a mostly acoustic version of the vaguely psychedelic and/or jazz-tinged swinging they devised on previous sets, high- and lowlighted by songs about drug addiction, hopeless love, urban paranoia and the natural wonders of the great but troubled state of California. Wry and dry singer-guitarist Rob Waller is a man of few words, and he uses 'em well; masterful Fender Telecaster/lap steel man Paul Lacques beautifully orchestrates the sound. —John Payne

Also playing:

THE JACKSONS at Greek Theatre.

mon 7/23

Foxygen

ORIGAMI VINYL

Foxygen are full of paradoxical truths. They are tribute and reinvention. They are weird and easy to love. They are sloppy but sound. They are unknown but born to be rock heroes. Imagine Bowie reinvented by Ariel Pink, the Stones covered by Sonic Youth, or a drunk John Lennon locked in a basement with an old Casio, a trashed Fender and a glitchy four-track. The "band" comprises two rock & roll bums: Olympia, Wash.'s Sam France (vocals) and New York City's Jonathan Rado (guitar, keys), both 22 years old and both clearly obsessed with classics. Their 2011 debut EP, Take the Kids Off Broadway, is filled with impressionistic takes on past masters fleshed out using deep bass grooves, blissfully shambling strum, loosely mapped beats, all manner of effects and layers of voice that alternately growl, shout, swoon and hum. Suck up their rare air as it floats overhead. —Chris Martins

The xx

FONDA THEATRE

These U.K. goth-soul ghouls haven't played in the United States since 2010, when The xx wrapped up support of their self-titled semi-hit debut and subsequently went into studio-hibernation mode. This summer, they're back on the road ahead of the Sept. 11 release of Coexist, the trio's highly anticipated sophomore disc. New songs they've been doing live overseas suggest that The xx's recent dalliances with Shakira and Rihanna (both of whom sampled tunes from The xx) haven't made them any less moody or whispery. With Jacques Greene, a Montreal-based DJ best known perhaps as the geeky white dude into whose left ear Azealia Banks is yelling in the video for "212." —Mikael Wood

tue 7/24

Scream It Like You Mean It

GLASS HOUSE (Pomona)

Bringing together multiple purveyors of multiple heavy-metal "-core" subgenres, this monthlong package tour confirms that, when it comes to super-aggressive guitar music, there are indeed myriad ways to skin the proverbial cat. Ohio's Attack Attack! add interest to their otherwise line-towing, middle-weight metalcore with techno-flavored electronic sprinkles, while The Chariot's slightly deranged, raw-throated matchcore actually (and thankfully) sounds more like a thrust for self-expression than just a plea for commercial validation. Frequently dubbed "deathcore," relative veterans The Acacia Strain create contemporary and ambitious metallic hardcore that traces a string-calloused finger through Pantera and Meshuggah all the way to Dillinger Escape Plan. With more than a dozen other core-suffixed bands on this same bill, "Corecore" can only be a matter of time. —Paul Rogers

Also playing:

ST. LUCIA, MR. LITTLE JEANS at the Echo.

wed 7/25

Aretha Franklin

NOKIA THEATRE

Although Beyoncé foolishly misspoke when she called Tina Turner the queen of soul at the 2008 Grammys, the world of soul has long been ruled by only one queen, and her name is still Aretha Franklin. Rightly celebrated for her powerhouse voice, which imbued late-'60s hits like "Chain of Fools," "Think" and "Respect" with a fiery gospel intensity, Franklin is also an underrated pianist who pumped up those classics with emphatic funkiness. She reinforces her legacy further on her latest collection, Knew You Were Waiting: The Best of Aretha Franklin 1980–1998, where she duets with Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox and Elton John and is accompanied by such guests as Keith Richards and the late Clarence Clemons. Despite some health scares in recent years, Franklin can still raise the roof with that legendary set of pipes. —Falling James

Stanton Moore Trio and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

THE MINT

Drummer Stanton Moore has been sharing a Wednesday residency at the Mint with Greyboy All-Stars leader Robert Walter and guitarist Will Bernard for the last several weeks. Moore and Walter also are known for their stints with guitarist Charlie Hunter, a frequent visitor to the Mid-City club. Moore's style has been described as "jazz meets [John] Bonham," and at least one solo from Moore's online videos can be recognized for the same opening as "Moby Dick," the late Led Zeppelin drummer's signature tune. Moore's experiences cover the musical gamut from jazz to rock to funk and many more. For this show, the evening includes the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a group of fellow New Orleans natives who've merged elements of funk and bebop jazz with the traditional Big Easy brass band sound to create an entirely new audience for the last 30 years. —Tom Meek