Friday

• We Are Scientists w/ Lightspeed Champion, Bad Girlfriend. Black Cat. $18. All ages.
• The Very Big Fatback w/ Art of Junk, George Smallwood. 9:30 Club. $10. All ages.
• 311 and the Offspring. Jiffy Lube Live. $37-$52.
• Junior League Band, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, The Hot Seats. Rock and Roll Hotel. $12. All ages.
• Laurie Anderson. The Birchmere. $39.50
• Bob Log III w/ Molly Gene One Woaman Band. The Red and The Black. $8. +21
• Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social w/ Shane Hines, Don Dilego. IOTA Club & Cafe. $15. +21
• The Kennedys. Jammin Java. $18.
• The Accidents, Zombie Club America, John Wayne Hero. The Velvet Lounge. $8. +21
• Histrionic Witch, Silence the Blind. Jaxx. $12. All ages.
• Jenn and The Tonics, Anthony "Swampdog" Clark. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.

Saturday

• Jack Johnson w/ Merriweather Post Pavilion. $35-$55.
• "Star Wars" in Concert. Verizon Center. $35-$75.
• Rahim Shah. DAR Constitution Hall. $35-$100.
• The Torches w/ Lions & Tigers & Whales. Black Cat. $8. All ages.
• Bonjour, Ganesh!, Milk Machine, the NRIs, Ghost Light. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10. All ages.
• Designer Drugs w/ Toy Selectah, Alvin Risk. U Street Music Hall. $10. +18
• What's the Scenario? Hip Hop Dan and Dave Nada present a dance night of Classic Hip Hop. 9:30 Club. $10. All ages.
• Ocho de Bastos w/ Bachaco, Crisis, Revolucion Quinientos Tr3s, DJ Rockactivo. DC9. $12. +21
• Old Time Banjo Festival. The Birchmere. $29.50
• King Giant w/ Wake Up Cold. The Red and The Black. $8. +21
• Jerry Butler. Carter Barron Amphitheater. $20.75
• Shortstack w/ Pinche Gringo. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12. +21
• DMV Rock/ Rap Showcase. The Velvet Lounge. $8. +21
• 4 Out of 5 Doctors. Jammin Java. $20
• In Alcatraz 1962, I Saw A Ghost, Life After Hours, Behold the Flood. Jaxx. $12. All ages.
• Scott Ramminger and The Crawstickers. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.

Sunday

• The Mostly Dead, Worn in Red, Drugs of Faith. Black Cat. $8. All ages.
• An American Playlist: Three Evenings Celebrating the Performing Arts. Featuring Mambo Sauce, Black Thought, ?uestlove. The Kennedy Center Concert Hall
• Natalie Merchant. Music Center at Strathmore. $55.
• hiphopmcdougal w/ Free Lobster Buffet, A Spike Lee Joint. DC9. $8. +18
• Parachute Musical w/ Murphy's Kids, Sequoyah Prep School. U Street Music Hall. $10. +18
• David Grisman Bluegrass Experience. The Birchmere. $39.50
• The Small Ponds w/ Jeanne Jolly. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12. +21
• Screen Vinyl Image, the Water, We Are Hex, Night and the City. The Velvet Lounge. $8. +21
• William Fitzsimmons w/ Rosi Golan. Jammin Java. $15

Bob Log III photo via Myspace

But it's clear that Oxford Collapse are having too much fun not to be churning out their raucous, sing-along pop tunes on automatic. The Brooklyn-based art pop trio are best known for keeping alive the poignant embers of guitar-driven '80s college rock and "jangular" pop.

Oxford Collapse's forthcoming album, Bits, is a departure from the trio's past efforts. In Sub Pop-inspired PR poetry, the band's previous work "reflected an almost preternatural awareness of the ['80s college-rock mindset] and was/is excitable and bounding against prison walls of their own device." Um. Well that's a charming way of saying that the new record sees the the band loosening up the creative process, overthinking things less and writing songs with greater urgency and compulsion.

In fact the band had 30 songs worth of material going into the studio for this record, forcing some spillage of the surplus exuberance onto two separate vinyl releases (the Spike of Bensonhurst 7-inch on Flameshovel Records and the Hann-Byrd 12-inch on Comedy Minus One).

If that doesn't tide you over until Aug. 5, when Bits is released, then go see their joyous, blistering live show this Saturday, Aug. 2 at Black Cat, alongside We Are Scientists and Frightened Rabbit. Expect to be entreated with soaring melodies, frenetic guitars, and some of the noisiest heartfelt songs you've heard in a long time.

Here is Oxford Collapse's video for "The Birthday Wars," a track off of Bits: