Friday, 3-5

The New Pornographers, Devo, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Big Pink, Drive-By Truckers, Semi Precious Weapons, My Dear Disco, and Peanut Butter Wolf will be performing at Lollapalooza 2010 between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 6.

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
Four years after The New Pornographers first played Lollapalooza, the Canadian indie band returns to pull double duty in the city — performing a sold-out show at Metro the night before their appearance on day one of the festival. The band’s fifth album, Together, proves that the well has not run dry for A.C. Newman and company. The infectious pop hooks remain vibrant while the band’s deep collection of talent continues to find new voices. (Friday, 4-5, Budweiser Stage) –text: Chris Castaneda

DEVO
It’d be easy for the gentlemen of Devo to sit back, watch the residual checks from “Whip It” keep rolling in and accept the band’s place in history as a one-hit new wave novelty. But the world is more devolved than ever and this June, Mark Mothersbaugh and company dusted off their trademarked Energy Domes and put out Something for Everybody, the group’s first album in 20 years. Way to “give the past the slip” indeed. (Friday, 4-5, Parkways Foundation Stage) –text: Bonnie Stiernberg–photo: Andrew Boyle

CYMBALS EAT GUITARS
Cymbals Eat Guitars make use of vocals that croon and creep along, with properly complementary instrumentation to boot. Without warning, the melodic tranquility suddenly careens, swells and sometimes explodes into jazzy, groovy and chaotic outbursts that share the same cerebral qualities as their more tame moments. With music that’s explorative and multifaceted, the band is able to successfully span a wide range of moods and textures within a single track. Bottom line: Cymbals Eat Guitars offers a complex and equally rewarding listen. (Friday, 3:30-4:30, Sony Bloggie Stage) –text: Charlie Newton

THE BIG PINK
Edgy and electronic, The Big Pink offer up an innovative sound that stems from their love of all things original. Robertson Furze along with Milo Cordell make up this experimental duo whose expertise has earned them awards as well as a place in the music world carved out for the radical. The pair from London officially became The Big Pink in 2007 while their first album, A Brief History of Love, was released in 2009. (Friday, 3-4, Adidas Mega Stage) –text: Mary Scannell

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
On their eighth studio album, ATO Records debut The Big To-Do, Athens, Georgia’s alt-country rockers Drive-By Truckers spin heartfelt tales of hookers, murder, death and domestic dispute with all the swagger and airtight songwriting you’d expect from this veteran band. Reportedly culled from a collection of 26 new tunes, To-Do is very much a melodic rock album but ballads have a place here too, with plenty of organ, pedal steel and acoustic guitar licks to go around. (Friday, 3-4, PlayStation Stage) –text: Mike Scales

SEMI PRECIOUS WEAPONS
Forming a dirty rock ‘n’ roll band that throws 24-carat gold parties onstage is a familiar concept for NYC’s Semi Precious Weapons. Deliberately defining their glam-rock as filthy fun, ringleader Justin Tranter composes songs crystallized with brazen class. Three years ago, an edgy starlet named Lady Gaga opened their rock parties in New York’s underground bars. Cut to 2010 and the glitz is still on. Only now, they open Gaga’s electro-pop operas in arenas, theaters and Lollapaloozas. (Friday, 4:15-5, BMI Stage) –text: Angie Martin

MY DEAR DISCO
The musical genre known as “dancethink” includes only one band — and that’s because they invented it. Don’t let the word “disco” in the name of Ann Arbor’s My Dear Disco steer you clear of its performance. The quintet brings the perfect amount of synthesizer and thumping to each of their songs, including lone female singer Michelle Chamuel’s tunes “Replaceable” and “All I Do.” Hear them first at Lollapalooza, and next at a club near you. (Friday, 3-3:45, BMI Stage) –text: Lisette Medina

PEANUT BUTTER WOLF
Peanut Butter Wolf (born Chris Manak) perfected his technique on the Technics alongside Nas, House of Pain, and the Pharcyde in the early ‘90s. While his cohorts achieved major notoriety, PBW continued his instrumental career and eventually founded the widely respected indie label Stones Throw Records. His mixes are sometimes silly, but always intentional and not in a hurry to get to the next set of beats. If festivalgoers are lucky enough, PBW will also play his video mash-ups to match his absurdist sounds. (Friday, 3:15-4:15, Perry’s) –text: Cara Slingerland

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Gang Gang Dance, Kings of Leon, Peanut Butter Wolf

DEL THA FUNKEE HOMOSAPIEN
At the raw age of 17, Del tha Funkee Homosapien was first tossed the mic by his gangster rapping and part-time anaconda-hunting cousin, Ice Cube. However, after nearly two decades of rhyming, Del’s style couldn’t be any more divergent from his blood’s. Instead of spewing abhorrence, Del’s lyrics are amiable. Instead of promoting violence and destruction, Del encourages self and societal progress. And instead of grabbing and smacking a hoe, Del would rather reach for a novel. Unlike most emcees, Del boasts a vocabulary that would make a Harvard student choke on his NASDAQ Special Edition iPod. Though he’s dropped several solo albums and side projects, the bulk of Del’s notoriety was derived from headlining the critically acclaimed rap group Hieroglyphics, as well as co-starring with Gorillaz on their platinum single “Clint Eastwood.” Del is presently tucked away in his home studio working on his next solo album, 11th Hour. (Appearing at Abbey Pub on Oct. 27) –text: Joe Ptak

GANG GANG DANCE
Well known around New York and contiguous boroughs, Gang Gang Dance records unique music. The quartet led by artist Brian DeGraw made their debut in 2004 with Revival of The Shittest. Soon after came a self-titled album and last year’s excellent God’s Money. The band’s sound can sometimes be classified as world music because of their tribal beats and Eastern/African influences, yet the group also experiments with drones while generating trance-inducing vibes that mesmerize the listener. Their music can also be manic at times, with piercing female vocals and schizophrenic shifts in tone. Last year’s God’s Money saw the band being labeled as neo-tribal as they’ve helped revitalize a rather underground genre. The band has toured with eclectic Brooklynites Animal Collective and Black Dice. Gang Gang’s music is quite disparate from typical indie rock fare, making them an acquired taste for some and a fanatical treat for others. (Appearing with Dogme 95 and Andor Destructor at Empty Bottle on Oct. 27) –text: Garin Pirnia–photo: Joshua Wildman

KINGS OF LEON
Kings of Leon might just be the greatest group to fly under most radar. This trio of Southern brothers (a far cry from those “Mmmbop” kids from Oklahoma) and their cousin make the wonderful, but rare kind of music that leaves you in a state of giddy delight — announcing to anyone who will listen something to the effect of “these guys are damn fucking good!” Their sound might best be described as ’80s punk with a country soul and a streak of hipster. Every track hints at another time and genre, and the Kings now find themselves touring with Bob Dylan. When the greatest poet of our time hits up the Sears Centre later this month, perhaps the bonus of a stellar opening act will numb the painful reality that it all takes place within the depressing confines of an enormous venue out in the suburbs. (Appearing with Bob Dylan at the Sears Centre on Oct. 27 & 28) –text: Jen Fischer–photo: Jo McCaughey

PEANUT BUTTER WOLF
Hardly a household name, Peanut Butter Wolf largely worked from behind the scenes as his Stones Throw Records developed into an underground hip hop juggernaut. Home to the likes of Madlib and many of his aliases, the late Jay Dee, MF Doom, MED and Breakestra, the label that Wolf founded has done more than its share to expand the boundaries of hip hop and revive the sounds from which the culture springs. A DJ, producer and facilitator of the works of others, Wolf has played a role in just about every Stones Throw project. Started as an outlet for the then-unreleased classics he did with the late MC Charizma, the label’s impact has grown steadily. Besides releasing the groundbreaking work of the aforementioned artists, Wolf has also used his influence to reissue cuts by some of the little-known pioneers of funk, soul and hip hop that he tends to play when mixing. (Appearing with Madlib at Metro on Oct. 28) –text: Noah Levine–photo: Jeff Henrikson