Weekly Music Picks: Spring has Sprung

April Fool's Day is on the Horizon, but we ain't foolin this week. A solid line up of shows – starting with the Tourfilter DJ Night at River Gods – is ahead. It's mid-week heavy this time around so kick it like a rock star and be thankful you can sleep in on Saturday.

Monday, 3/26
TourFilter Mixtape
Tourfilter founder Chris Marstall will be at River Gods in Cambridge equipped with an evening full of music he'll be playing from the booth as part of the Weekly Wax kicking off at 8 p.m.. The music comes to you powered by collaborations TourFilter has been building with sites like Hype Machine. The bands you'll hear are all tracked using TourFilter and will be hitting Boston venues in the next couple of weeks.
River Gods, 125 River St., Cambridge. 8 pm.
TourFilter: track your favorite bands and dip into some light social networking at the flagship tourfilter.com

Tuesday, 3/27
The Ponys and The Black Lips
God bless garage rock. While you're waiting for the bloggers to leak Icky Thump, fulfill your inner desire for early White Stripes-era guitar heaviness, via the ferocious double bill of the Black Lips and The Ponys, Tuesday night at the Middle East. Atlanta-based rockers the Black Lips formed their band before any of them were legally able to drive a car, and seven years later they've been both hailed and condemned for their notoriously raucous live shows, and landed a deal with Vice Records. The New York Times called them "the hardest working band at South By Southwest," and they should know – they followed the band around with a video camera. Watch the video here. The Ponys are up-and-comers as well, with their recent release "Turn the Lights Out," on the taste making label Matador. Their show with the Black Lips is bound to be packed, sweaty, and full of fierce, psychedelic-fringed noise – just the way we like it.
T.T. the Bear's Place, 18+ 8:30 pm, $10 | Black Lips myspace
The Ponys myspace

Menomena
Loop-based experimental rock. Also Field Music and Land of Talk open.
Great Scott, 18+, 9pm, $12
Menomena: web site (achtung: may cause seizures) | myspace
Field Music:web site | myspace | You're So Pretty .mp3
Land of Talk: web site

Wednesday, 3/28
Toots & the Maytals
From his ska and rocksteady hits in the '60s, to his monster reggae output in the '70s and transformative work with Sly and Robbie in the '80s, Toots has helped chart the course of Jamaican music. True Love (2004) saw Toots teaming up with the likes of Rahzel, Keith Richards, Ben Harper, and the Skatalites to perform Maytals' classics like "Reggae Got Soul," "Pressure Drop," and a particularly satisfying version of "Funky Kingston" featuring Bootsy Collins and the Roots ("let me hear you say Toots, Roots 'n' Boots!"). Catch a living legend on Wednesday.
Avalon, $24, 8pm
website | myspace | Funky Kingston.mp3 (edit) | purchase

Bloc Party
What more do we need to say about Bloc Party, everybody's favorite post-punk-funk dance rock phenomenon? Bostonist has been gushing on about championing the band since their first gig at Paradise two years ago, their step-up to Avalon in September of '05, and their leap to the Pavilion last July. Oh, and Silent Alarm made our best of 2005 list. But if you want to see the band play tracks from their long awaited follow-up A Weekend in the City, released last month, you best purchase your tickets soon (not sold out as of Sunday).
Orpheum, 8pm $30
website | myspace

Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites, with The Honorary Title
Butch Walker, known for his sensitive tough guy singer-songwriter angle, added layers of 70s pseudo-psychaelia and sunshine pop rock when he paired with the Let's Go Out Tonites for "Rise & Fall of Butch Walker & the Let's Go Out Tonites." It's fun in an isn't-it-so-groovy sort of way, but what really caught Bostonist's attention is that Brooklyn-based The Honorary Title is opening up Wednesday's show at The Paradise. We caught Title frontman Jarrod Gorbel at the 'Dise Lounge during the 2005 Hotel Cafe Tour and loved his emo/pop/rock stylings -- and have been hooked on the detailed descriptions found on "Anything Else But the Truth" ever since.
Paradise Rock Club, 18+ $18 adv, 7 p.m.
Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites: website | myspace
The Honorary Title: website | myspace

Snow Patrol with OK Go and Silversun Pickups
Note to Gary Lightbody: We will not just lay here and just forget the world with you, because we think lying on streets at night, as you did during your "Chasing Cars" video, isn't the brightest move. That said, we're sure many folks would -- and that they'll be at the Agganis Arena on Wednesday night to sing along with that tune and the others off "Eyes Open." Silly video concept aside, the five-piece brings driving rock beats to Lightbody's pensive lyrics to create an album that gals can swoon over while guys bob their heads in time.
Agganis Arena, $30, 7:30 p.m.
Snow Patrol: website

Thursday, 3/29
Irma Thomas (also Saturday and Sunday)
Soul and Blues legend Irma Thomas, the undisputed "Soul Queen of New Orleans," hits Beantown in support of her latest joint My Heart's In Memphis. Maybe she'll even belt out her first hit "You Can Have My Husband (But Don't Mess With My Man)."
Regattabar, 7:30pm, $28
website | myspace

The Long Winters
Our friends at Chicagoist aptly noted over the weekend that Seattle-based The Long Winters "sort of remind us of The Shins on a sugar kick." The band is capable of delivering hyper pop beats with a wink and a smile (particularly the bouncing "Cinnamon"), but it's also known for bringing it down for dreamy indie pop that rivals the band's Portland counterparts. Expect to see at Great Scott some of the same faces you saw in the Shins crowd at the Orpheum earlier this month. The Broken West, Stars of Track and Field and DJ Carbo also share the bill.
Great Scott, $12 adv/$14dos, $12, 9 p.m.
The Long Winters: website | myspace | Stupid.mp3
Win tickets from Bradley (until Wednesday) via Bradley's Almanac.

Friday, 3/30
John Prine (Benefit for the Passim Center)
What's to say? Big name. Folk venue benefit.
Memorial Hall (45 Quincy St., Cambridge), 7:30 pm, very much sold out.
John Prine: web site | Wedding Bells/Let's Turn Back the Years (with Lucinda Williams)
Club Passim: website

Saturday, 3/31
Antibalas
Fresh off their performance at SXSW, the 12-man strong Antibalas (bulletproof in Spanish) bring their horn driven mix of afrobeat, Latin, jazz, funk, and soul to Beantown. The Brooklyn group, modeled after Fela Kuti's legendary band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra, is touring in support of their brand new album. Security, produced by Chicago's John McEntire (Tortoise, Stereolab), features guest spots by TVOTR, MMW, Baaba Maal and Gomez. Rich Medina’s Jump 'n' Funk Party, the "Original Afrobreat Fela Tribute Dance Party," open.
Middle East Downstairs, 18+ 9pm, $15 adv / $18 dos
Antibalas: website | myspace | I.C.E.mp3 | purchase
Jump 'n' Funk: website | myspace

Rocky Votolato
Those recently introduced to Rocky Votolato might expect his sets to be full of the sparse, aching material that the Seattle singer-songwriter included in his latest release, the critically lauded 2006 "Makers." But watch out, because Votolato is known for switching up his sound for each of his releases, and Barsuk Records is already generating buzz for the planned June release of "the brag & cuss." According to the label, the new release will feature a much fuller sound. As big fans of Votolato's work, we'll take whatever he wants to give the crowd at Great Scott on Saturday night. Also on the bill: Owen, the solo project by Mike Kinsella (American Football, Owls) and Drag the River.
Great Scott, 18+ $12, 9 pm
Rocky Votolato: website | myspace

Sunday, 4/1
Immortal Technique
New York's Immortal Technique and DJ GI Joe bring their political revolutionary, hardcore rap to the Middle East. With Poison Pen, Akir, Diabolic, and The Circle. DJ GI Joe (the mixtape hero) is stationed at the ones and twos between sets.
Middle East Downstairs, 18+ $18 adv / $20dos, 8pm
Immortal Technique: website | myspace | watch out.mp3 | purchase
DJ GI Joe: website | myspace

Matt Durutti, Victoria Welch, Caitlin E. Curran, and C. Fernsebner contributed to this week's picks.