Music Picks: Rusko, HARD Summer, SMOD

Ravi Coltrane

CATALINA

PHOTO BY FOUAD ALLAOUI

SMOD: See Saturday.

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If the last name sounds familiar, congratulations, for you know something about jazz. Anything written about Ravi Coltrane (including this paragraph) usually includes a reference to his famous father, a perpetually awkward circumstance that the second-generation Blue Note saxophonist has managed to embrace with peaceful affection. Rather than trying to fill John Coltrane's giant shoes, his son simply removed them and took his own steps toward a distinct identity. Although his father wasn't alive to instruct him, the DNA of superior musicianship is evident in Ravi's beautifully even tenor sound and deftly controlled bursts of improvised brilliance. Take away the last name and what remains is an honest man and established jazz master. The band is an interesting departure from Coltrane's usual crew, featuring the innovative pianist David Virelles. Also Sat.-Sun. —Gary Fukushima

Also playing:

FEAR FACTORY, VOIVOD, CATTLE DECAPITATION at House of Blues; L.A. FOLK FEST (BEACHWOOD SPARKS, WHITE MAGIC, etc.) at Zorthian Ranch; COSMONAUTS, DIRT DRESS at the Smell.

sun 8/5

DIIV, Part Time

ECHO

DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith is obsessed with the deep rhythms of Krautrock and the downcast guitar anti-theatrics of Nirvana, but somehow his music comes out as a light thing — airy but substantial, loose but effective. His Brooklyn band's debut album, Oshin, came out in June and it's already making waves for its uniquely aqueous vibes. Instead of relying upon synthesized grooves à la chillwave acts like Washed Out, DIIV keep the emphasis on the ax, strumming up cool layers of enveloping atmosphere, which Smith sings over in a lilting, echo-affected coo. Meanwhile, Part Time keep the focus on the keys, crafting a sort of lo-fi answer to '80s soundtracks and New Romantics. It may help to imagine Ariel Pink as Boy George, fuzzing up all that pure pop with the awkward aplomb of a true bedroom savant. —Chris Martins

Juicy J

HOUSE OF BLUES

It's hard out here for an aging emcee. Let's face it, rap is a young man's game — after a certain point, growling aggressive lyrics, slurring your way through shows clouded with kush smoke and banging groupies on a tour bus just become pathetic. Kudos, then, to Juicy J of the legendary Memphis group Three 6 Mafia. Seven years after they won an Academy Award for the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," Juicy J's still sipping syrup and making mixtapes where he shouts his signature "Trippy, mayne" alongside many of hip-hop's coolest new characters. Late last year, he joined Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang Records and released the Blue Dream & Lean mixtape, which featured Lex Luger beats and young rappers like SpaceGhostPurrp and Casey Veggies. But the main reason to catch this is the crazy energy Juicy J brings to his shows: Three 6 Mafia's performance at Paid Dues this spring transformed the arena into the kind of rowdy scene usually only experienced in hole-in-the-wall clubs back in his hometown. —Rebecca Haithcoat

mon 8/6

Aerosmith, Cheap Trick

HOLLYWOOD BOWL

Now that Steven Tyler won't be leering creepily at the next crop of nubile young hopefuls auditioning on the upcoming season of American Idol, perhaps the raspy-voiced singer can turn his attention to making Aerosmith great again. The irony is that, although the Boston quintet hasn't released a consistently strong album since Jimmy Carter was president, the band is still a lot better in concert than it should be, thanks in no small part to the less celebrated ministrations and tangled interplay of ax-wielders Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, sweetly emotive bassist Tom Hamilton and relentless drummer Joey Kramer on such surprisingly engaging live albums as 2005's Rockin' the Joint. Cheap Trick were still mixing up the set-list medicine and releasing brilliant, underrated new CDs like Rockford and (especially) Special One as recently as 2006, but, puzzlingly, they've curled up into the fetal position since, sticking mainly to the obvious hits live. They get away with it, though — even on the ghastly, Frankenstein-cobbled monstrosity "The Flame" — because Robin Zander still sings like a mother. —Falling James

Also playing:

WILDCAT! WILDCAT!, AAN, INCAN ABRAHAM at the Echo; TRIBES at Bootleg Bar.

tue 8/7

Jesca Hoop

LARGO

Perhaps it's no surprise that the movers and shakers of the music world are finally catching up to Jesca Hoop. Early on, her songwriting skills were praised by Tom Waits (who once employed the young singer as a nanny), and more recently she's toured and collaborated with Eels and Peter Gabriel. The California-raised, England-based singer-guitarist's third and latest full-length album, The House That Jack Built, marvelously encompasses several of her disparate personae — new and old — from freaky bubblegum-popping new waver ("Ode to Banksy") and trippy electronic-pop diva ("Hospital") to arty space case ("Dig This Record") and languorous dream-pop chanteuse ("Deeper Devastation"). She recalls her early art-folk work most enchantingly on "When I'm Asleep," juxtaposing Waits-style woodshed percussion with soaring, inventively arranged skeins of Kate Bush–like vocals. Um, she's really good. —Falling James

Redd Kross

THE ROXY

On their first new record in 15 years, Redd Kross bros Jeff and Steven McDonald bring their trademarked hash of hard-rocking trash to real, real heady heights. Researching the Blues spews choice tunesmith-ery on the title track and good ones like "Stay Away From Downtown," "Meet Frankenstein" and "Winter Blues," which all shows that you can play rock music any way you feel if you're writing great songs. Sounds E-Z, doesn't it? Well, it's not, so check out how RK prove their prowess all night in these Beatle-ish, Cheap Trick–esque songs that are delivered tight and tuff though not exactly mean. Even when Redd Kross play hard guys, they're doing it with a laugh, and, seriously, that makes it sound like they're just bashing out these tunes. But it's not true. —John Payne