With a roster including Aveo, Death Cab, and the Long Winters, Barsuk has become the new Up! — in other words, the Seattle label that grabs all the smart, eclectic indie bands who’re too conventionally enjoyable for Sub Pop. Transplanted Oklahoman David Terry, a/k/a Aqueduct, fits right in: the heartbroken-dude-with-keyboard he most resembles is Quasi’s Sam Coomes. Dig the hatchback full of Beatles changes, the warm synth-through-fuzz-pedal glow, and the heavy emotional luggage: he’s got 99 problems and a bitch is all of them. On Aqueduct’s new I Sold Gold, Terry patches in the occasional vocoder growl and Timbaland beat, but shifting textures play second fiddle to his buoyant, indie-boy-next-door crush pop. Conan O’Brien and The OC have taken note of the jacked-up piano ballad "Growing Up with GNR," a bit of early-onset nostalgia for a girl he loved "when I was only 12 . . . hearing Axl Rose on the radio singing ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine.’ " You can catch Aqueduct on Tuesday at Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Burlington with OK Go, and on Wednesday at ZuZu (617-864-3278 extension 237) in Cambridge.

DC bong-rock wizards Dead Meadow have settled down and traded Deep Purple shag for jangling pastorale since signing to Matador, and on their new Feathers, they shuffle down yet another notch on their Bevis Frond–like transformation from atavistic psyche-blooze crusaders to cosmic pop sages. There’s still some residual peat-boggy Sabbath sludge, not to mention a vestigal phase-shifting freakout or three, but the volume won’t spook the deer in the glade outside, and more often their wah pedals conjure shimmering chords that hover, drift, and dissipate like so many lazy-afternoon smoke rings. On tour with Italian indie duo Jennifer Gentle (Rebecca Millzoff's review of Jennifer Gentle's Valende can be found here), Dead Meadow play Saturday at Great Scott (617-734-4502) in Allston and Sunday at the Space (207-828-5600) in Portland.

On the very short list of what’s really good about Pittsburgh — inclines, pierogies, Franco Harris, I.C. Light — are the synth-drums horror-soundtrack duo Zombi. Yes, even Penguins fans can tell you that George Romero shot Night of the Living Dead in and around the Steel City, though Zombi’s woozy suicide-file stabs are more in line with the cold-blooded, shattered-mirror electro-prog of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci scores. The band play Tuesday at Great Scott and Wednesday at the Living Room (401-521-5200) in Providence.

Ken Micallef’s interview with Queens of the Stone Age is in Music; though the band’s Monday gig at the Roxy (617-931-2000) in Boston is sold out, tickets remain for Saturday at the Webster Theater (860-525-5553) in Hartford.