Best Phoenix Concerts This Week: Hembree, Lovelytheband, METZ

Concertgoers of the Valley in need of some live music to get through the week have a variety of options. Over the next few nights, acts such as indie rock band Hembree, psychobilly pioneers The Meteors, indie pop group Lovelytheband, and alt-rockers The Wallflowers will hit the stages at local concert venues.

Details about each of these shows and other notable gigs happening around town from Monday, December 5, to Thursday, December 8, follow below. And check out Phoenix New Times‘ online concert listings for even more live music in the Valley this week.

The Meteors

Monday, December 5
The Rebel Lounge, 2303 East Indian School RoadLong before the members of Tiger Army or The Nekromantix primped their first pompadours, English band The Meteors were pioneering the psychobilly sound. Formed back in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist P. Paul Fenech, the act began haunting joints in their native country like the famed Sparrow Hawk pub in north London. The band added a sense of danger to their potent fusion of punk and rockabilly during their early years, as Fenech was notorious for spitting chicken blood onto crowds. The band’s fanbase, who were known as “crazies” loved every moment and developed their own style of dancing, a reckless mix of fighting and moshing. Fast forward to today and The Meteors are still around (albeit with Fenech as the remaining OG member) and their gigs are still as loud and entertaining as ever, only without the gory theatrics. With The Joeys and Outlaw Inlaws; 8 p.m., $20 via seetickets.us. Benjamin Leatherman

Siamés

Tuesday, December 6
The Rebel Lounge, 2303 East Indian School RoadWhile “Stoltz & Blakk” sounds like the name of a German buddy-cop duo, they’re actually the masterminds behind Argentinian electropop/rock band Siamés. Founded in 2013 by Guillermo “Soltz” Stolzing and Juan Manuel “Blakk” Kokollo, Siamés are a rock band on paper but a club act in both sound and vibes. While a lot of electropop bands sound deeply indebted to the ’80s, Siamés sound like they’ve spent more time cribbing copious amounts of notes around ’90s electronic dance music: the heyday of Ace of Base, Haddaway, and Alice Deejay. Driven by keyboards and synthesizers, their music is neon-colored and energetic. Take a song like 2020’s “Summer Nights,” a highlight from their album Home, where regular Siamés collaborator Barbie Williams duets with Stoltz over a bedrock of sumptuous electronic cheese. The music wears its heart and its influences on its jelly bracelet-covered sleeves. And while Siamés has a knack for the bombastic, they can work in a softer register too. Consider the instrumentals on 2022’s Faceoff, where the slinky boom-bap of “Copman” and ambient lull of “Bedcofee” finds them moving into more restrained yet adventurous territory. With New Royals; 8 p.m., $30/$35 via seetickets.us. Ashley Naftule

The Wallflowers

Tuesday, December 6
Marquee Theatre, 730 North Mill Avenue, TempeWhat are the perks of being a member of The Wallflowers? If you’re frontman Jakob Dylan, you have your famous father’s amazing songwriting lineage flowing through your veins, not to mention the pressure of living up to daddy’s legacy. Will he ever do that? Very unlikely, but that’s not the say his musical output is worth dismissing. After debuting in 1989, the rock band released its best-known album, Bringing Down the Horse, seven years later. It went quadruple platinum and produced such singles as “6th Avenue Heartache,” “The Difference,” and “Three Marlenas,” as well as their biggest hit and alt-rock radio favorite, “One Headlight.” The Wallflowers’ various releases since, up to and including last year’s Exit Wounds, may not have equaled the success of Bringing Down the Horse, but Dylan has won over plenty of hearts with his solo releases, including the T-Bone Burnett-produced Women + Country from 2010. You’ll hear songs from the album in The Wallflowers; set list when they roll through the Valley this week. 7:30 p.m., $67.50-$97.50 via ticketweb.com. Benjamin Leatherman

METZ

Wednesday, December 7
Valley Bar, 130 North Central AvenueWant to mosh? Let’s mosh. The Canadian punk-rock act METZ – consisting of guitarist and vocalist Alex Edkins, bassist Chris Slorach and drummer Hayden Menzies – thrives in chaos, its shows a rowdy concoction of aggressive percussion and guitar-heavy angst. Since forming in 2008, they’ve put out four studio albums (with the latest being their 2020 Sub Pop release Atlas Vending), two live albums, an EP, and tons of singles. METZ is touring in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of their 2012 self-titled release and will be joined by Oakland, California-born Kowloon Walled City, whose sound is a mix of noise rock, post-hardcore, and sludge metal. In other words, it’s going to be a clamorous night of rock in Valley Bar’s music hall. 8 p.m., $25 via seetickets.us. Gannon Hanevold and Benjamin Leatherman

Hembree

Wednesday, December 7
The Rebel Lounge, 2303 East Indian School Road”When will I swallow all that I am proud of,” Isaac Flynn sings on Hembree’s “Can’t Run Forever,” a moody indie rock that epitomizes what the Kansas City band does best. It’s melodic and cinematic; the song doesn’t enter your ears so much as it cruises through them, propelled by tight and graceful rhythms. It’s just one of many low-key stunners in the Hembree songbook. Formed in 2015, the core of the group coalesced around singer/guitarist Flynn and bassist/singer Garrett Childers, with Eric Davis (keys), Alex Ward (guitar), and Austin Ward (drums) rounding out the sound. They started off self-releasing their own music but quickly gained a following after their song “Holy Water” got placed in an Apple commercial during the Super Bowl. They’ve since toured with acts like Phoenix, Elvis Costello, and The Get Up Kids. One thing Hembree shares with all those acts is a knack for sticky melodies. Good luck evicting the chorus of “It’s A Dream” from your head. Indie rock doesn’t get much more polished and sleeker than this. With Little Hurt, Kenzo Cregan, and MRCH; 6:30 p.m., $15/$18 via seetickets.us. Ashley Naftule

Lovelytheband

Thursday, December 8
Marquee Theatre, 730 North Mill Avenue, TempeFor all the couples with poor media literacy who dress like The Joker and Harlequin for Halloween every year, the boys in Lovelytheband were kind enough to grace you with an anthem. 2017’s “Broken” is a misfit love song, the kind of modern pop-rock song that deeply embarrassing couples can serenade each other with at karaoke nights. “I like that you’re broken, broken like me,” frontman Mitchy Collins sings. Why so serious, Mitchy boy? Some bands form in garages; Lovelytheband came together in a nightclub. The core trio of Collins, Jordan Greenwald, and Sam Price decided to Voltron together into their emo-adjacent pop-rock monster after a night on the town in West Hollywood. Since then they’ve shown a knack for releasing sad boy anthems, the kind of songs that inappropriate Hot Topic managers would put on mixtapes for their employee crushes if mixtapes were still a thing. There are some interesting, eccentric flourishes in their music: the whistling that punctuates “sail away,” the odd squeaking noises that run throughout “Broken.” They’re not quite Weirdtheband but they get points for trying. 8 p.m., $27-$57 via ticketweb.com. Ashley Naftule