Roadtrips

Ivy are a suave, sultry, casually alluring trio fronted by French-accented chanteuse Dominique Durand and featuring the bass and songwriting talents of Adam Schlesinger, he of the whip-smart pop duo Fountains of Wayne. After a stint on Sony -- and a trail of tribulations including the gutting of the band's home studio in an unexplained fire -- Ivy have found a home on Nettwerk, and their new Long Distance is, well, every bit as suave, sultry, and casually alluring as the last one. They're at the Iron Horse (413-586-5858) in Northampton on Monday and at Lilli's (617-591-1661) in Somerville on Tuesday. For the latter gig, they're joined by Nathan Larson, the former guitarist for the operatic DC art-punk outfit Shudder To Think, who after doing some fine soundtrack work has opted to try his hand at some slick-sounding blue-eyed soul and Motown-inspired shtickery.

The weather's just right for another rendition of "Summer Girls," and you can catch one for free at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade on Saturday, where KISS (WXKS) FM (978-396-1430) throws an outdoor show featuring local pop smashes LFO (see our feature in Arts), along with former New Kid Joey McIntyre. LFO and McIntyre are also on the bill for the FUN (WHFN) 101 gig at the Zeiterion Theatre (508-994-2900) in New Bedford on Sunday, along with Debelah Morgan, PYT, and others. New Bedford's annual weekend folk festival, Summerfest (508-999-5231), runs Friday through Sunday on six stages at State Pier and the New Bedford Whaling Museum; among the big names are Guy Davis, Eddie from Ohio, Patti Larkin, Lori McKenna, Alice Peacock, Chris Smither, and Livingston Taylor. Larkin also plays the Museum of Fine Arts' "Concerts in the Courtyard" (617-369-3300) series on Wednesday.

Sure, to you and me the Tom Tom Club are just the leftovers from Talking Heads; but to serious crate diggers they're the source of obscure-breakbeat nirvana -- so much so that they're scheduled to appear on the forthcoming album by NYC turntablist kingpins the X-ecutioners. In the meantime, the Tom Tom Club give up a taste of the good, the bad, and the funky on Saturday at Club Helsinki in Great Barrington (413-528-3394); on Monday at the Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Winooski, Vermont; on Wednesday at the State Theater (207-780-8265) in Portland, Maine; and next Thursday, July 12 at the House of Blues (617-491-2583) in Cambridge.
-- Carly Carioli