Monday, April 23, Refused, Ceremony at Terminal 5, $30
Swedish hardcore pioneers Refused recently reunited after a 14-year break, and sound as neck-snapping tight as ever. They are joined at this show by their spiritual heirs Ceremony, who have shoved as many unorthodox influences and moods as possible in to a genre still primarily preoccupied with soundtracking exploding neck veins. Both these dudes still kill at will, of course. They just do so in a more interesting way than normal.
Wednesday, April 25 at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Saturday, April 28 at Bowery Ballroom, The Weeknd, $30
Abel Tesfaye has recently begun touring his heavily hyped project The Weeknd after spending last year posing for moody photos and releasing free albums like the fantastic House of Balloons to his website. Having caught a Weeknd set last weekend, we can confirm that he and his crack backing band have not found their footing entirely, but he has the whole "seductive menace" thing down, and he can absolutely slay the high part on "High for This," so it might be worth watching some growing pains on stage.
Wednesday, April 25, Lissy Trullie at Mercury Lounge, $10
Let's set this straight for you. Lissie is an acoustic folk playing lady, perhaps best known for some very smart, stripped-down covers of Lady Gaga and Kid Cudi. She is not playing New York this week. Lissy Trullie is a young lady from New York who plays New Wave-inspired pop rock, and is perhaps best known for a Hot Chip cover. She released an album last week, and is playing New York this week, and it should be a lively affair. This concludes our Lissie/Lissy delineation. We're glad we could clear this up for you.
