Our Picks Recommended

Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones, Los Straitjackets 

Go to Dave Alvin's website, and the first thing he declares on a grandly simple intro page is, "There are two types of folk music: quiet folk music and loud folk music. I play both." That's a pretty fair boiling-down of the California troubadour's aesthetic; he's been a member of X and the Blasters as well as won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album, and he's a top-shelf guitarist whether using an acoustic or an electric. Over four decades of writing songs, Alvin has grown into a master lyricist, learning to turn his weather-beaten vocals into a defining element of his character. These days, he records for the Triangle's own Yep Roc label; his latest, Eleven Eleven, comes out next week and testifies to both the quiet and loud avenues of his artistry. Teaming up with Alvin and his band the Guilty Ones on this tour are Yep Roc labelmates Los Straitjackets, they of the trademark Mexican wrestling masks and ever-entertaining surf-rock mayhem. —Peter Blackstock