Roadtrips

The Fucking Champs play guitar-god-grade heavy fucking metal -- they appear to have studied complicated early Slayer and Megadeth and wankier, more obscure death-metal shit like Death Angel -- with the academicism and dry wit (and conspicuous lack of vocals) usually reserved for Don Caballero albums. They're way too good at what they do to be a parody, and their song titles ("N.W.O.B.H.M. 2," "Esprit de Corpse," "What's a Little Reign?") are deep-album-cut-loving insider references that only hopeless metal geeks appreciate. If you still have a hard time believing they're irony-free, note that Tim Green (formerly of semiotics-loving indie heroes Nation of Ulysses) has been making up for his indie-ness by producing excellent discs for the likes of Man's Ruin avant-stoners Drunk Horse, whose new Tanning Salon gets so wiggy and prog that their label felt a need to mention both ZZ Top and the Art Institute of Chicago in their bio. The Champs and Drunk Horse play the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on Wednesday and Eclectic House at Wesleyan University (860-685-2000) in Middlebury next Thursday (May 10). There's probably a Sanctuary album or two in the Champs' collection, and the core of that '80s thrash group form the nucleus of Nevermore, who arrive at the Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester this Friday with Swede death metal titans Opeth, old-school German thrashers Angel Dust, and God Forbid.

Live, loud, lewd, and sold out: no tickets remain for the FleetCenter on Friday, where new-school hard-rock cats Buckcherry meet the genuine article, AC/DC, in what may sound from the rafters like a slightly younger, snottier AC/DC opening for themselves. But you'll have another chance to catch Buckcherry at the Boston Phoenix/FNX Best Music Poll on Lansdowne Street on May 16; call (617) 423-NEXT for tickets. For now, Blink-182, who are starting to feel like the biggest "punk" band ever, take a break from arenas to play a small club tour sponsored by the Honda Civic. It's at the Palladium on Saturday.

Milwaukee's the Promise Ring don't have anything new to sell, but they're headed this way anyway, and we're always glad to have 'em. Their Very Emergency (Jade Tree) seemed to turn the tide of indie rock away from enforced obfuscation and back toward solid songcraft and self-confident playing; things have been looking up ever since. They're at the El-N-Gee (860-437-3800) in New London on Friday and at the Middle East on Saturday.

Mike Keneally and his six-piece band Beer for Dolphins have been exploring rock's oddest corners since 1992. Their tools: Keneally's incendiary guitar chops that embrace, well, just about everything, and his twisted, comic imagination. The former Frank Zappa and Steve Vai sideman hits Johnny D's (617-776-2004) in Somerville next Thursday and the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence the following night.
-- Carly Carioli