X, Light+Sound, Kehlani and others highlight early May’s concerts

X

With Skating Polly, 9 p.m. Friday, May 5, at Knuckleheads Saloon, all ages, $32.50

Iconic Los Angeles punk band X is in the middle of a tour celebrating the group’s 40th anniversary. (John Doe talks to The Pitch about that here.) The band hasn’t released new material in more than two decades, but its debut album, Los Angeles, and its appearance in the legendary punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization long ago cemented its place in rock history.

Joining X on several dates of the tour is Tacoma-based sister duo Skating Polly, whose music ranges from noisy garage punk jams to saccharine acoustic tunes. In addition to impressing Exene Cervenka (X) enough to produce its second album, the band can count another notable fan: Kansan and ex-Flaming Lips drummer Kliph Scurlock. “The very first Flaming Lips show that he brought us to, he let us sit behind him while he played drums, on stage,” Polly member Kelli recalls.

Light+Sound

Featuring CXPA, Dspang, Brett Frischer, Todd Howard, Jonah P. and Sacra Saturni, 4 p.m. Friday, May 5, at Mildred’s, all ages, free

Peter Anthony and Jeremy Crow are two of the creatives behind Light+Sound, a new performance series from the pair who collaborate frequently within Intelligent Sound — a local community for electronic, ambient and downbeat producers. The series, which held its inaugural event in March, pairs musicians and visual artists to create a show full of unique audio/visual experiences.

The second Light+Sound event is titled “Everything’s Gone Green.” The parking lot of the Mildred’s coffeehouse in the Crossroads district will be cleared of all cars and filled with trees. “We want it to be a little bit different than the last one where people were sitting down, watching a performance and a screen,” Crow says. “In this one you’re able to move around and be a part of the space and look at the space from the outside.”

Shitstorm

With Gnarly Davidson and Young Bull, 10 p.m. Friday, May 12, at Replay Lounge, 21 and older, $3

St. Louis rock band Shitstorm is actually more of a solo project. Matt Stuttler began recording music under the Shitstorm moniker in 2014. Early efforts included electronic drums that Stuttler would program before singing and playing guitar over them. More recent recordings have been full-band efforts, but the furious garage-punk sound and the DIY aesthetic that Stuttler began with remain.

Joining Shitstorm at Replay Lounge are Gnarly Davidson and Young Bull. All three bands play loud guitar music, but the two local acts play a bit more on the metal side. “It’s more fun to play with a spectrum of band than bands that you sound exactly like,” Stuttler says.

Kehlani

With Ella Mai, Jahkoy and Noodles, 8 p.m. Monday, May 15, at the Granada, Lawrence, all ages, $25

One of the Bay Area’s biggest stars is on her way to Lawrence. R&B singer Kehlani is touring in support of her first major-label album, SweetSexySavage, which came out in January to critical acclaim. Nearly every one of the album’s 17 songs pulls listeners in and administers lethal amounts of sugary pop hooks and dance-floor rhythms.

Kehlani’s career began when her former group, PopLyfe, finished fourth on America’s Got Talent. British singer Ella Mai is supporting her on this tour and, coincidentally, got her own start on The X Factor. Mai says that, even though she’s around Kehlani frequently, she still gets excited to see her perform. “When she asked me to come on tour with her, I was super-excited because I’m still to this day a super-fangirl. I still watch all the shows even though I’ve seen them however many times,” Mai says.