Authors of several textbooks prized by art-school dropouts the world over, Fugazi convene several classes in the area this week. In support of their new The Argument (Dischord), they'll play tonight (Thursday, April 18) at the Holyoke War Memorial (413-527-9800) and Friday and Saturday at the Massachusetts College of Art Gymnasium (617-879-7726) in Boston. The Poster Children open Saturday's show; opening on Friday are Eulcid, whose very early line-up included Piebald's Travis Shettel and Converge's Kurt Ballou. Now a trio headed by founding singer/guitarist Mike Law -- he also records with Cave In's Stephen Brodsky as New Idea Society -- Eulcid crank out graduate-level art punk on their latest, The Wind Blew All the Fires Out (Second Nature).

Meanwhile, Law's old bandmates are busy elsewhere. Piebald hit Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton next Thursday, April 25, with Lost City Angels. Converge celebrate the stoner national holiday with an obligatory "4:20 Fest" at the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester on Saturday. Also on board for the festival are Hatebreed, Reach the Sky, Glassjaw, the Hope Conspiracy, Unearth, and Death Threat. And Eulcid labelmates the Casket Lottery -- whose new Survival Is for Cowards (Second Nature) is a mini-masterpiece of emo-metal -- are at the Pond (617-661-8828) in Cambridge next Thursday, April 25, with Boston digi-punks the Faux.

There's nothing like a good tear-jerking, self-righteous American ballad, especially when it's written by a knighted Brit. Sir Paul McCartney demonstrates at the sold-out FleetCenter (617-931-2000) in Boston on Friday. Following that, Welsh pop explorers and old Macca pals Super Furry Animals -- they remixed the Fab Four for his Liverpool Sound Collage, and he crunched a carrot on their new Rings Around the World (XL Recordings) -- are at the Paradise (617-423-NEXT) in Boston on Monday.

Motörhead get Hammered (Metal-Is) at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Sunday, with help from Morbid Angel, Today Is the Day, and Speedealer -- whose forthcoming Second Sight (Palm Pictures) was produced by Jason Newsted, formerly of notorious Motörhead ripoffs Metallica. The tour continues on Tuesday at the Webster Theatre (860-525-5553) in Hartford and next Friday, April 26, at the Palladium. An FNX-sponsored "Boston Product" tour featuring Boston rawk faves Scissorfight, Cracktorch, and Quitter hits the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on Friday; Chantilly's (603-621-0330) in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday; and the Asylum (800-477-6849) in Portland next Friday, April 26. Boston indie-prog kids the Cancer Conspiracy continue their tour with live-techno geeks Lake Trout on Sunday at the House of Blues (617-491-BLUE) in Cambridge, on Monday at the Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Winooski, Vermont, and on Tuesday at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton. And finally: taking roots music back to the sticks, John Prine plays Merrill Auditorium (207-842-0800) in Portland on Friday, and Wilco make their only area stop at Lupo's on Wednesday, with Royal Trux's Neil Michael Haggerty opening.