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Thursday, Feb. 12
Two decades before Cameron Winter’s current reign as the divisive-voiced, piano-playing boy king of indie rock, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah had the internet in a tizzy over whether his voice was grating or soothing, whether his music was treacly or transcendent. Yet the Philly songwriter has stuck around longer than his naysayers expected, with a chilling and nostalgic new album, New Fragility, and an increasing inclination toward solo piano gigs that put his keening buzz of a voice front and center. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave. 6:30 pm. $30.50–$55. All ages.
Tuesday, Feb. 17
It’s cool when bands look more evil than they sound; would KISS have sold so many lunchboxes if they sounded like real demons? Ghost carries this tradition into the 21st century. The Swedes’ new album, Skeletá, has been touted as their most “introspective,” but was anyone really itching to hear about the personal troubles of Papa V Perpetua and his Nameless Ghouls? This music is about pop-metal riffage so delicious you’d swear you were in the 1980s, when rock was still pop and parents still panicked over it. Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St. 8 pm. $56.45.
Wednesday, Feb. 18
Christopher Owens fronted the great San Francisco rock band Girls from 2008 to 2012, epitomizing San Francisco’s last pretech countercultural moment with his blond mane and predilection for crop tops. Since then, he’s been through hell and back, living through spells of homelessness and a debilitating motorcycle crash. His newest solo album, I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair, wears its scars on its sleeve; it feels like a small miracle that the album was even finished, let alone that it sounds this good. Polaris Hall, 635 N Killingsworth Court. 8 pm. $32.21. 21+.
