GUN OUTFIT

>>> Thursday, March 31

There's nothing funny about Gun Outfit's music - they're a melodically gifted, rightfully acclaimed band with a flair for melding the clean guitars and drawling vocals of post-punk and '90s slacker rock with the aching, whiskey-soaked world-weariness of country music classics. Dylan Sharp and bandmate Carrie Keith write, sing and play guitar, and their recent influences include everything from '60s psychedelia to Spanish hardcore music. "I was listening to a lot of Barbara Manning when I was writing (the songs on the band's new High Places EP)," Keith says. While Keith also cites super-heavy Oly band Son Skull as an inspiration, she says that country greats like Lucinda Williams are some of her most consistent muses. - Jason Baxter

[Northern, with Des Ark, Pygmy Lush, All Green Lights, 8 p.m., all ages, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia, northernolympia.org]

PICKWICK

>>> Friday, April 1

Pickwick succeeds almost entirely on the basis of Galen Disston's commanding lead vocal. The band is tight and in the pocket, propping up and supporting Disston, but the show is all ultimately all his. If his voice faltered in the face of their '60s soul style, the whole thing would collapse under its own weight. Disston's seeming effortlessness is Pickwick's best attribute - the one thing that defies just about every criticism that can be raised in regard to this kind of blue-eyed soul. Following, as they are, in the footsteps of several decades of some of the best pop songwriting there is, it's impressive that Pickwick manage to find new takes on and hooks in the Motown and soul model. And they come out relatively unscathed. - Rev. Adam McKinney

[The Space, with Ivan & Alyosha, Pablo Trucker, 8 p.m., $8-$10, 729 Court C, Tacoma]

STONE AXE

>>> Saturday, April 2

If you haven't heard Stone Axe yet you are missing out, my friend. They are the greatest classic rock band to come out in our lifetime. They have perfect riffs, well-timed harmony and storylines rivaling Rod Stewart or Black Sabbath. Stone Axe is truly climbing the stairway to heaven. The band is about to embark on a European tour, and (put braids and feathers in your hair for this one) their song "Return of the Worm," recently aired on Dog the Bounty Hunter. Despite Dog's 24 illegitimate children and anti-semantic attitude, you have to admit its pretty badass for a band to be aired on the show. Congratulations, Stone Axe, for being so damn cool. Check them out this Saturday at The Hub in Centralia, and prepare to become a super fan. - Nikki Talotta

[The Hub, with Blood To Dust, Severed Few, 9 p.m., no cover, 110 S. Tower St., Centralia, 360.736.2229]

A.MADMAN

>>> Wednesday, April 6

A.Madman follows in the same lineage of sample-heavy electronica as groups like the Avalanches - groups that value texture and ambience in equal proportion to hooks and dancey grooves. On the remarkable "Lotus Eater," A.Madman mixes and matches classic soul elements and stuttering breakbeats with an oppressive sense of gloom that hangs over the track like a pall. Meanwhile, "Give You Wings" hums with a shivering energy that comes tempered with weirdness like sped-up voices that float in and out of the mix, and twinkling moments that evoke a child absentmindedly plunking the keys on a toy piano. It all adds up to an intriguing and original mixture of gleeful dance music and somber electronic experiments that possess hypnotic abilities when listened to on some nice headphones. - Rev. AM

[Northern, with Broken Figures, Ghost Feet, Bizzart, 8 p.m., $5, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia, northernolympia.org]