Music Forecast 8.27-9.2: The Psychedelic Furs, the Church, Boston, Blue Öyster Cult, Gwar, Modest Mouse, Thee Oh Sees

The Psychedelic Furs, the Church

Forget that the Furs haven’t released new material since 1991’s World Outside. Founding members and brothers Richard and Tim Butler have such a powerful back catalog of material that hearing “Love My Way” and “Pretty in Pink” live should make it feel like the old is new again. Australia’s the Church, on the other hand, has quite a few more recent releases to build its setlist around, including last year’s excellent Further/Deeper. Rest assured that they’ll be doling out the hits as well. If you were part of the subversive-rock club in the ’80s, this show will speak to your soul.

Thursday, August 27, Crossroads KC at Grinders (417 East 18th Street,
785-749-3434)

Boston, Blue Öyster Cult, Shooting Star

Classic-rock fans of a certain age — and their kids — have a lot to look forward to Sunday at Starlight. Boston, fronted by founding guitarist and organist Tom Scholz and lead singer Tommy DeCarlo, who took Brad Delp’s spot following the founding singer’s death in 2007, performs a set highlighting the crowd-pleasing rock. So be sure to brush up on “More Than a Feeling.” Blue Öyster Cult delivers its somewhat harder-to-swallow heavy rock, and Kansas City’s Shooting Star opens the show.

Sunday, August 30, Starlight Theatre (4600 Starlight Road, Swope Park, 816-363-7827)

Gwar

To say that Gwar’s recent history has been difficult would be an understatement. Earlier this month, the thrash-metal band’s newest member and frontwoman, Vulvatron, was kicked out of the band — rumor is that she was fired over the Internet — and things have gotten ugly since. Sunday night’s show at the Granada is still on, and it arrives nearly a year and a half after the overdose death of frontman and founder Dave Brockie, aka Oderus Urungus. If you’re familiar with Gwar, you know that these struggles won’t affect the gnarly gross-out that the band of supposed flesh-eating warrior aliens has planned. Prepare to get nasty.

Sunday, August 30, the Granada (1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence, 785-842-1390)

Modest Mouse

Eight years — that’s how long we’ve waited for Strangers to Ourselves, the latest release from Modest Mouse. It picks up where 2007’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank left off — with off-kilter grooves and idiosyncratic hooks that probably wouldn’t work so well played by any other band. But Strangers to Ourselves is not the magnum opus that many were expecting, especially after nearly a decade of prolonged anticipation. (The band infamously canceled a slew of tour dates in 2013 because, members said, they needed more time in the studio.) It’s not that it’s bad — it’s thoroughly enjoyable. It just doesn’t do anything that Modest Mouse hasn’t already done, which makes you wonder what took these guys so long. Tuesday at Liberty Hall, maybe we’ll find out.

Tuesday, September 1, Liberty Hall (644 Massachusetts, Lawrence, 785-749-1972)

Thee Oh Sees

No one questions John Dwyer’s prolific output. The back catalog of his 18-year-old band, Thee Oh Sees, is evidence enough of that (to say nothing of Dwyer’s recent solo record as Damaged Bug or any of his previous projects). Though this kind of intense creativity can compromise the value of lesser acts — the old quality-versus-quantity argument — Dwyer doesn’t seem to be in any sort of danger. Take Thee Oh Sees’ newest album, Mutilator Defeated at Last. This will go down as one of the finest in the California band’s canon, replete with juicy grooves and crunchy riffs and finished with a hazy layer of psychedelia. Mutilator is heavy, and you should blast it at full volume, no matter the hour or how pissed off your neighbors might get. Old fans will be pleased and impressed; new fans’ brains will melt.

Wednesday, September 2, RecordBar (1020 Westport Road, 816-753-5207)