Roadtrips

With two new discs coming out this week -- one nasty and one nice -- Juliana Hatfield has embarked on something like the New England indie-rock version of a mall tour: a grueling, three-show-a-day whistle-stop tour of every single Newbury Comics store in existence. This Thursday, May 11, she hits Warwick in Rhode Island and then North Attleboro and Bellingham; on May 12 it's Portland in Maine and Salem and Manchester in New Hampshire; then Amherst, Shrewsbury, and Natick on May 13 . . . well, you get the picture. She winds it up May 16 at the Boston stores -- Government Center, Harvard Square, and the flagship on Newbury Street (617-236-4930) -- at noon, 3, and 6, respectively.

"I'll be your Bonnie if you'll be my Clyde," sings Maggie Vail -- sister of Bikini Kill's Toby -- on Sweet Revenge (Kill Rock Stars), the new disc by Bangs. And Revenge would make the perfect soundtrack to a crime spree -- it's rough and tumble, like a snottier, bubblegum-lovin', hard-rockin' kid sibling to Sleater-Kinney. Bangs are in town May 19 at the Cambridge VFW Hall (617-547-9320) on Green Street with Sarah Dougher, who in addition to doing her solo singer/songwriter thing moonlights along with Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker in the garagy Cadallaca. Tucker and the rest of Sleater-Kinney are in town this week too, with gigs at Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton on May 16; at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on May 17 and 18; and at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on May 19. Opening all the S-K dates are the Butchies, who can also be found on the debut CD by 18-year-old South Carolina singer/songwriter Tami Hart. Hart plays the volunteer art space Flywheel (413-527-9800) in Northampton on May 12 and Mass College of Art (617-576-9919) in Boston on May 13, both dates with Rubeo.

Elsewhere, Brit-pop faves Travis hit the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on May 15 and the WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll on May 16 at the Berklee Performance Center. The Shods headline the Worcester Phoenix Best Music Poll Party at the Lucky Dog Music Hall (508-363-1888) on May 12. The Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters play sold-out dates on May 13 at the Providence Civic Center and May 14 at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine (both 617-931-2000). And buzzed-about neo-metal jokers Mindless Self Indulgence are at the Met Café on May 17 and at Bill's Bar (617-423-NEXT) in Boston on May 18.

Speaking of mindless, we managed to hunt down a track called "Mustard on My Blue Suede Shoes" by Dead Elvis and the Colonel (so genius we had to run the photo; note, that's Colonel Sanders!), the enigmatic duo who are backed by a down-and-dirty combo called the Nightcrawlers and whose demonobilly rantings also include such demented nuggets as "All Fucked Up," "Blue Qualudes," and "Dead Woman Blues." The Dead One is currently engaged in a month-long Sunday-night (May 14, 21, 28) residency at the Lucky Dog Music Hall, and it's being recorded for an album. May we suggest Live After Death?
-- Carly Carioli