Weekly Music Picks: No Jingle Bell Anything Edition

There must be calm before the storm this week. We can only imagine that our favorite local folks are saving up their energy so they can rock it big into the new year. There are certainly a few great shows on this week's agenda, don't get us wrong. But since we have a minute to take a moment to look at Gridskipper's post they tacked to the bathroom wall last week: "The Mighty Mighty Bostons: Best Rock Venues in Beantown." They've come up with a pretty good list of places, especially for the uninitiated. We've got favorites mostly based on what's close to us and the kind of music we'd generally like to hear – and some of those didn't make their roundup. Please stop calling us Beantown and one does not see "rock" music at Passim, it's called "folk."

Monday 12/11
Wild Light
We're told that there are former Arcade Fire players in this band -- though unable to determine by furious googling exactly who, or when, or whether at all, when we listen to "New Year's Eve" and its soaring aaaa aaa aaaa aaaah choruses, we're willing to suspend some disbelief.
P.A.'s Lounge, 18+, 8:30 pm, $7-$10
Wild Light: myspace

Wednesday 12/13
Kid:nap:kin
Expect a blisteringly energetic release party for Kid:nap:kin's "Touring the Riot Scene" EP, with the Shills, Captain Cutthroat, and Read Yellow, whom you may have heard shouting the Smiths' "Bigmouth Strikes Again" in a most un-Morrisseylike manner.
Great Scott (Allston), 18+, 9 pm, $8
Kid:nap:kin: myspace | web site
Read Yellow: myspace | web site | Bigmouth Strikes Again .mp3

Juliet Kilo
David Levin's eclectic one-man band combines instruments both electronic and folky with oblique but warm vocals, like a glitchy Iron & Wine or a shy Atari 2600.
Midway Cafe (Jamaica Plain), 21+, 9 pm, $5
Juliet Kilo: web site | myspace | Poison Water .mp3 | The Tools For What Your Hands Can't Do .mp3

Friday 12/15
Mr. Lif and The Coup show at the Paradise CANCELLED
As reported by Pitchfork, the tour bus carrying Lif and The Coup ran off the road on the way to a show in Arizona last week, forcing the cancellation of all remaining dates. Boston's own Lif, who, along with The Coup's Boots Riley and Pam the Funkstress, was not seriously injured, posted the following message on his website: "The tour bus ran off the road for a 30 foot drop. Everyone is alive, but four need extensive hospitalization & surgery. We appreciate all concern and would like to thank everyone who was planning to attend our shows." Bostonist wishes all those injured a speedy recovery. cancellation notice on The Paradise website
Mr. Lif: website | myspace | the fries (Abdul Malik remix).mp3
The Coup: website | myspace | my favorite mutiny.mp3 | we are the ones.mp3

Saturday 12/16
Sean Lennon
Bostonist loved Sean's first solo joint, Into the Sun, released by the Beastie Boys on Grand Royale. And we really liked his work with Automator and Prince Paul's Handsome Boy Modeling School and (then girlfriend) Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori's Cibo Matto. But his latest album, Friendly Fire, finds a more introspective Lennon focusing on his singer-songwriter skill set. And director Michele Civetta put together a Felliniesqe DVD of the entire album, featuring performances by the likes of Bijou Phillips (another of Sean's ex-girlfriends) and Lindsay Lohan (not an item). Catch Lennon at the Paradise with Jim Noir.
Paradise Rock Club, 18+, $17, 8pm
website | myspace | friendly fire video trailer

Thunderdome II
Last month's Thunderdome was such a smashing success ("300 people going crazy in a room full of fogged up mirrors and a giant dancing elk"), that the gang are doing it again. Take a disco nap and catch Thunderdome II: 2 floors, 2 bars, 7 DJ's, and "utter insanity," featuring Redd Foxx, Mistaker, Baltimoroder, Morgan Lewis, David Day, and friends.
Elks Lodge, 55 Bishop Allen Rd, Central Square, Cambridge, 9pm, $7, rsvp
Thunderdome: myspace
| sQuare Productions: website

Matt Durutti and C. Fernsebner contributed to this post