Roadtrips

Yeah, sure, "What Do I Get?" is now an automobile commercial, but at this point, the only thing that proves is that even Madison Avenue is hipper than your average active-rock radio programmer. It's also a testament to how well the Buzzcocks have held up over the past 20 years -- even as a car ad (which is to say even as the song is made to say the exact opposite of what it once suggested), "What Do I Get" sounds as if it could have been written yesterday, say by some teenage Southern California skate punk with a faux Brit accent. The 'cocks still stand as absolute ground zero for punk-as-pop, and quite possibly as the genre's apex. If the albums they've made in their latest incarnation have been just okay, they're still in good enough shape to put on an absolutely pulverizing show. We expect nothing less this Saturday, October 23, at the Paradise (617-423-NEXT), where the Buzzcocks are joined by the Lunachicks and Down by Law; the bill repeats on Sunday at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence.

Moving on back to a time before punk: one of the great '60s Hammond organ players, Felix Cavaliere of the (Young) Rascals, leads a group of guys who, for reasons stemming from an ugly legal battle, are going by the overexpository name Felix Cavaliere's Rascals. They're on a bill with the Guess Who ("American Woman," for those of you familiar only with the Lenny Kravitz version) in a benefit gig for the Anti-Defamation League at Avalon (617-423-NEXT) in Boston on October 23. Meanwhile, you can catch a modern-day organ master when Medeski Martin & Wood hit the Palladium (508-797-9696) in Worcester on October 23; they're also at the State Theatre (401-331-2211) in Portland, Maine, the following night. And getting back to old dudes: NRBQ are celebrating their 30th anniversary with a new disc, a tour, and a cameo on The Simpsons that airs next month. They're at the Living Room (401-521-5200) in Providence tonight (October 21) and at the House of Blues (617-491-BLUE) in Cambridge on October 23.

When she lived in these parts, Amelia White made a name for herself with the bands Sara Laughs and Iguana Poets, even scoring a 1997 Phoenix/WFNX Best Music Poll win for Best Folk. Now based in Seattle, White's still cranking out crafty, well-sung tunes with a dash of country and strong pop appeal. She makes a New England swing that includes Fire & Water (413-586-8336) in Northampton on October 26 and the Kendall Café (617-661-0993) in Cambridge on October 28.

Teenage blues phenom Johnny Lang says of teenage guitarist Shannon Curfman, "she's only 14 and she scares me." The jail-bait blues-slinging gal scares us, too, but mainly because of the poses they got her strikin' in her press photos, which might make the wrong guy think inappropriate thoughts about a certain 14-year-old girl. Curfman is indeed a hell of a guitar player, though the best stuff on her forthcoming debut album has a Sheryl Crow feel to it, which we mean as a compliment. She's at the House of Blues in Cambridge on October 27 and at the Stone Coast Brewery (207-773-2337) in Portland, Maine, on October 29.
-- Carly Carioli