Jeff Mangum - Wednesday (2/1), Variety Playhouse, $36 (sold out).

What’s left to say about Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum at this point?  He disappeared, and now he’s back.  Rumors of his return were obsessed over for years, and his re-emergence has been dutifully covered in all corners of the internet.  It’s a good story, particularly since it looks like he’s put his recluse days firmly behind him – he’s got a slew of dates scheduled for the rest of the year, including a featured a spot in the Coachella lineup.  Maybe (hopefully) a Jeff Mangum show won’t seem like such an earthshaking event a few years in the future, but for now this string of shows feels pretty special.

Liturgy, When Pain Is King, Scarab - Thursday, (2/2), $8.

I don’t necessarily think the idea of “transcendental black metal” is a bad one, but Liturgy frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix certainly sounds like an asshole describing it.  Ignore all the pretension and condescension, though, and you’re left with two pretty terrific full lengths and a killer live show.  Aesthetica threatened to break them into the indie rock mainstream, but it’s hardly a crossover album.  Their sound is nearly as intense and uncompromising as their black metal forefathers, even if Hunt-Hendrix is aiming for something less bleak.  The music and underlying philosophy are worth embracing, even if the creator occasionally comes across as a giant turd.

Attention System, Death Is A Dialogue, Five Knives, Kid Portugal - Saturday (2/4), Star Bar, $8.

We mentioned local electro-rockers Attention System in the most underrated category of the Atlanta Music Roundtable, with several of us mentioning that they probably deserved a little more local, uh, attention.  Come out to Star Bar on Saturday and show them some love.  They put more effort into their stage show than most bands in town, with lights and intensity that put many of their peers to shame, so you’ll get your money’s worth.

More shows after the jump.

Tuesday (1/31)

Order of the Owl, Death of Kings, Prime Mover – Star Zone bowling alley, free.

King Khan and the Shrines, Jacuzzi Boys, Paint Fumes – The Basement, $15.

Wednesday (2/1)

The Kills, JEFF the Brotherhood, Hunters – The Masquerade (Heaven), $20.

Cassandras, The Shape, Sleepy Genes – The Drunken Unicorn, $6.

Hip to Death, Methods of Espionage, The Flannels – 529, free.

Swank Sinatra, New Terminus, Mice in Cars – Star Bar, $5.

Thursday (2/2)

Adron, Spirits and the Melchizedek Children, We the Lion – The Earl, $8.

Friday (2/3)

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun, The Sleepy Vikings, The Pauses – 529, $7.

Pillage and Plunder, Absence of Ocean, The Violent, Full Net – WonderRoot, $5.

From Exile, Lazer/Wulf, Brain – The Drunken Unicorn, $7.

Saturday (2/4)

Weird Wives, A. Grimes, Death Domain – 529, free.

Big Freedia, Noot d’ Noot, DJ Dookie Platters – The Earl, $10/$12.

Anvil, Death of Kings – Hard Rock Cafe, $17/$20.

There’s a healthy amount of aggression on Good Men Are Monsters, the new two track EP from local post-punk outfit Mice in Cars.  It’s just not always on the surface.  Opener “Exit Interview” is mostly sustained menace, drawing tension from a muscular rhythm section that threatens rather than pummels.  It sounds a little like June of 44.  ”Six Months on Mir” ditches the restraint, slashing and burning through its runtime loudly and recklessly.  That one’s a bit closer to Rodan on the ’90s Louisville post-whatever continuum.

Stream both tracks below, and buy the EP for cheap over at Mice in Cars’ Bandcamp.

Book Club just released a video form “Cold Cold Year,” one of the best tracks from last year’s excellent Ghost.  The footage was shot in Paris at the end of 2011, but the grainy black-and-white makes many of the images feel well-worn, like they could have plausibly come from decades past.  It’s a good fit for the band’s clean, straightforward folk, which is sounds similarly out of time.

Check out  Ghost and the totally free Live on AM 1690 for free over at Book Club’s Bandcamp.

Solitude throws a lot at the wall on the twelve tracks that make up the recently released I Have to Stay Out. Not all of it sticks, but the stuff that does makes quite the impression. The appropriately named project is mostly just the solo endeavor of Atlanta’s Jordan Kadrie, and the music he records under that moniker is ramshackle DIY junk-pop that sounds like it was recorded with whatever random assortment of items Kadrie had lying around in his bedroom. Album standout “Roll On” throws beatboxed vocals on top of the junkyard percussion heap and settles into a stomping rhythym that sounds a bit like Tom Waits gone electro. It’s one of the album’s most straightforward moments, but it still sounds liable to burst apart at the seams. That combination of ambition and volatility is what makes the album so endearing, though, as well as easily forgivable even when it gets a little rough around the edges.

Download “Roll On” below, and get the whole album on the pay-what-you-want scale here.

[MP3] Solitude – “I Have To Stay Out”

Order of the Owl, Mind Powers, And That Is Why - Friday (1/27), The Cottage, $5.

I’m presenting this show, so my recommendation is admittedly biased. Honestly, though, this lineup would have drawn my attention anyway. Order of the Owl is one of my favorite live bands in town right now. They deliver thunderous doom metal through a cloud of heavy psychedelia, and it’s best heard live and loud as hell. The support is awesome, too, Mind Powers (from Columbus, GA) play frenzied noise-punk reminiscent of Mclusky and anything Steve Albini’s ever been in, and locals And That Is Why effectively nail the back-to-basics punk thing. Plus, it’s hard to have a bad time at The Cottage. Come on out.

The Ruination, Nigredo, Samadha, Dark Room, Knowsis (DJ sets) - Saturday (1/28), The Earl, $5/$7.

Probably the strongest all-local lineup of the week. The Ruination is an experimental dub band capable of throwing up some seriously tripped-out soundscapes. It can occasionally be meandering and tough to get your head around, but the sounds coming from the stage are compellingly strange enough to command your attention. Nigredo move between gorgeous ambient passages and dense walls of heavy release with an ease thats put most post-rock bands to shame. Jungol electronic side project Dark Room is worth showing up early for, too, especially since cover’s only $5 if you get there before the music starts.

Wowser Bowser, Qurious, Madeline - Saturday (1/28), The Drunken Unicorn, $8 (includes CD).

Wowser Bowser‘s debut album To the Pleasant Life! is out tomorrow, and they’re playing a release show on Saturday at the Drunken Unicorn to celebrate. Being the generous souls that they are, they will be giving a CD copy of the album to everyone who shows up. I recently posted a track from the album here, so check that out if you still need convincing. Get there early for Qurious and Madeline.

More shows worth checking out after the jump.

Monday (1/23)

Slow Southern Steel film screening w/ Zoroaster and Hail!Hornet – The Earl, $10.

Wednesday (1/25)

The Left Field Experiment: HeRobust, Ethereal, Yamin Semali, The Kill Fist, Burnt Bridges, Ty-vishnu, Dr. Conspiracy, Creashun, JDKNS, DJ Grizzly, Hosted by DT – 529, free.

Twin Sister, Ava Luna, Kid Pyramid  - The Earl, $10.

Memes, The Clap, The Gazelles – The Drunken Unicorn, $6.

Thursday (1/26)

The Back Pockets, Ghost Bikini, Lily and the Tigers – The Earl, $5.

Friday (1/27)

Kid Stuff (reunion), Tasty Beverage (last show), Collosal Head, This House – 529, $7.

The Dirty Guv’nahs, The District Attorneys, The Longshot Saints – Smith’s Olde Bar, $12/$15.

Saturday (1/28)

The Mountain Goats, Nurses  - The Earl, $20 (but very sold out)

Trinity: Art, Music, Poetry (music from Netherfriends, Tokyo Disco Kid, Cassandras, Grand Prize Winners From Last Year, The Back Pockets) – Raw Space Gallery, $10.

Dyess, Halmos, Uncle Touchy – The Music Room, $5(?).

Sunday (1/29)

Demonaut, Hollow Leg, Hawks – 529, $5.

When Warning Light (aka Atlanta’s Drew Haddon) recorded and released the “Blacked Out” digital single earlier in the week, there was some scary shit lurking on the horizon. The single’s two songs were written to protest SOPA/PIPA, which has thankfully been tabled for the time being. Both tracks are appropriately dark, and the context transforms them into an interesting mirror of the unease felt by those who understood SOPA’s destructive potential. They would be worth a listen even without that context, though, as they’re both fine examples of the atmospheric drones Haddon specializes in.

Stream “Blacked Out” below, and get the single on the pay-what-you-want scale here.

Wowser Bowser traffics in fun. There’s a high level of craftmanship in everything they do, but the end result is a distilled shot of dance-pop bliss. It’s not something that should really be overanalyzed. “E Dialeda Ho” is the fourth single to surface from upcoming debut To the Pleasant Life!, which is looking like it might be the first great local record of the year. The oddball sweetness of George Pettis’ lyrics is lifted by the headphone candy of the electronic programming, and the hooks sink in on the first listen. It’s mostly just a lot of fun.

Check out a stream of “E Diadela Ho” below. To the Pleasant Life! will be released on Tuesday, and they’ll be giving a CD to everyone who comes out to their album release at the Drunken Uncorn on Friday.

The Savannah Stopover Music Festival has just released its initial lineup , and there’s some seriously good stuff on that list.  The festival started last year as a way of taking advantage of the glut of touring bands making the annual pilgrimage to SXSW, positioning the Stopover as an excellent alternative for regional residents who won’t be trekking out to Austin this year.  Personal highlights include The Love Language, The Men, Prince Rama, and Royal Baths, but there’s really something here for indie rock fans of most stripes.  Little Tybee and Christ, Lord will be ably repping Atlanta.

This is just the first round of bands, too.  There will be another announcement by February 1st, and the final lineup will include over seventy bands.  The festival takes place March 7th-10th, with four-day passes selling for $75.  Individual day passes are $30.  All that ticket info can be found here.

Full lineup after the jump.

The War on Drugs, The Love Language, Caveman, Grimes,
Prince Rama, Jukebox The Ghost, Oberhofer, The Men, Little Tybee, Zambri,
Quilt, The Knocks, Royal Baths, DIVE, Born Gold, Turbo Fruits, Pond, Eternal
Summers, The Big Sleep, Savoir Adore, Deleted Scenes, Secret Mountains,
Delicate Steve, Grandchildren, Dinousaur Feathers, Cheyenne Marie Mize,
Spanish Prisoners, Sleepy Vikings, Country Mice, Idiot Glee, Hooded Fang,
Janka Nabay, Jon Lindsay, The Loom, The Minutes, The Suzan, Tops, River
Whyless, Young Empires, Christ,Lord

Delicate Cutters, Sirsy, Bobby Cool - Wednesday (1/17), Smith’s Olde Bar, $5

Birmingham’s Delicate Cutters pull together expressive fiddle, lively piano, and frontwoman Janet Simpson’s gorgeous vocals into malleable indie-folk that glides gracefully between the uptempo and the melancholy. They eschew the overly mannered style favored by too many of their NPR-ready peers in favor of messy, recognizable emotion, and the music is all the better for it.

Cass McCombs, Frank Fairfield - Thursday (1/19), The Earl, $10/$12

Californian folk nomad Cass McCombs released two well-received albums last year, the somber Wit’s End and the slightly more rocking Humor Risk. But he received nearly as much attention for eccentricities that include an avoidance of permanent addresses and a preference for conducting interviews via snail mail. His songs contain some of the mysetery of his persona, but he always offers a way inside, lacing his lyrics with enough sharp imagery and sharper observations to pique the interest of even the most casual listeners. He’s a unique talent, and this should be a great show.

Powerkompany, Rebecca Van Damm, Daniel Clay - Friday (1/20),  Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta Room), $8

Venice is Sinking violinist/vocalist Karolyn Troupe moonlights as Marie Davon in Powerkompany, her collaboration with husband Andrew Heaton (Packaway Handle Band). The duo play atmospheric, slow-burning folk fleshed out with electronic textures. They seemed to still be getting their sea legs when I caught them at Nophest back in August, but when everything clicked, it was pretty mesmerizing. I’m sure they’ve only gotten better since then.

Check out a list of other worthwhile shows after the jump.

Wednesday (1/18)

Christ, Lord, Wood Spider, Jesse and the Great Perhaps – WonderRoot, $5(?)

Mighty High Coup, Eli Porter, 4-ize, WYMYNS PRYSYN, Red Sea – 529, free

Thursday (1/19)

Cousin Dan, Turf War, Abby Go Go, Dino’s Boys – Star Bar, free

Friday (1/20)

Rizzudo, Cinemechanica, Purkinje Shift – 529, $7

Carnivores, The Coathangers, Frankie Broyles  - The Earl, $5 (includes Carnivores’ Live at The Earl 7″)

Adron – Smith’s Olde Bar, $10/$12

Saturday (1/21)

Annuals, Little Tybee, Mogul Street Reserve – The Earl, $8

Mood Rings, Mirror Mode, Lucy Dreams, Warning Light – Star Bar, $5

Jungol, Hanzelle, Cloudeater  - The Basement, $7

Dare Dukes, Book Club, Georgia Fireflies – Highland Inn Ballroom, $5

I’m a little late on this one, but I couldn’t just let it pass without posting.  Spirits and the Melchizedek Children played a killer run through the entirety of their 2011 album We Are Here To Save YOU! at our Atlanta Music Roundtable show at The Earl last month, but before they did, frontman Jason Elliot opened the set solo with a new song.  The song was recorded and released by the band as a tease of their upcoming album, where the song will probably appear in a much different form.  This version is quiet and bare, featuring only Elliot’s voice and electric guitar, and it showcases the ethereal sense of melody that was so strong on the last album.

[MP3] – Spirits and the Melchizedek Children – “Land Tied” (live at The Earl)