Roadtrips

It's become more and more difficult to reconcile Metallica's second decade of existence with their first. Three albums into their career as international superstars, they're as irrelevant as they've ever been -- to metal or rock and roll or anything save, say, Skynyrd -- and more popular than they've ever been. An outfit that used to make music with the sonic angular rigidity of skyscrapers and jackhammers is now ensconced in its own penthouse suite. You can get a glimpse of Metallica's fading glory on Saturday (sold out) and Sunday (tickets still available) at Great Woods (617-423-NEXT) in Mansfield. For another nostalgic look at the late-'80s thrash-metal heyday, there's Nuclear Assault, the group bassist Dan Lilker formed after leaving Anthrax and before going on to form Brutal Truth. Although it might be hard for anyone who grew up in the post-Reagan/Bush years to see why anyone would give a shit, in the mid to late '80s Nuclear Assault summed up the inchoate rage, fear, and paranoia of adolescents coming of age at the bitter end of the Cold War. See 'em at Sir Morgan's Cove (508-753-2188) in Worcester on July 18 with another holdover from that era, Candy Striper Death Orgy. Candy Striper are also at Mama Kin (617-536-2100) on the 20th.

Elsewhere, '70s country icon George Jones -- who might be ripe for a comeback now that alterna-country dudes like Sub Pop's Mike Ireland are giving him mad props -- is at home on the range at the Indian Ranch (508-943-3871) in Webster on July 19. No such cultural assistance is needed by roots-rock iconoclast Steve Earle, who is nonetheless taking a damn good band from South Philly called Marah -- with their eclectic take on the middle ground between the Replacements and early Springsteen -- on the road with him. They're at Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton on July 19; Marah headline a gig by themselves a few days earlier, July 16, at T.T. the Bear's (617-492-BEAR) in Cambridge.

With a new album due out later this year, Buffalo Tom are beginning to make the rounds again, with a show July 16 at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton, and again at the Wellfleet Beachcomber (508-349-6055) on July 19 with the Pernice Brothers, the band who arose from the ashes of the Scud Mountain Boys. The Brothers are solo at the Green Street Grill (617-876-1655) on the 20th.

B-grade techno-metal comes calling at Pearl Street, where God Lives Underwater set up shop on July 20 before continuing on with Stabbing Westward at Avalon (617-262-2424) in Boston on the 21st. Motor City-style maximum rock-and-roll cats Nashville Pussy swing through with Sub Pop's Murder City Devils, hitting Sir Morgan's Cove on July 21 (with Boston's deadliest villains, Scissorfight) and Axis (617-262-2437) in Boston on July 22. And in case you missed Laurel Aitken with the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble in Boston last week, you can catch them again at the Iron Horse on July 18.

-- CC