BUCKCHERRY
Nothing says I got a crush on you quite like Buckcherry lyrics. So this Tuesday (February 13), why not take that special someone (preferably someone without a women’s-studies degree) down to Plush. That’s where L.A–based sleaze rocker Josh Todd will be singing hits from his band’s latest album, 15 , including the single “Crazy Bitch” which basically consists of the same line—“Hey/You’re a crazy bitch/But you fuck so good I’m on top of it”—sung over and over again for four minutes. And remember: you needn’t bother telling her you love her; let the tried and tattied Todd do the talking. It will be a Valentine’s Day gift she’ll never forget.

  NEKO CASE
The title cut of Neko Case’s most recent album, 2006’s masterful Fox Confessor Brings the Flood , is a rebuke to all of humankind for paving over the natural world without a second thought for what’s being lost. Or maybe it’s not about that at all. Case is reticent when it comes to dissecting her evocative lyrics. And it’s just as well, because frankly, we like a little mystery with our music, and Case’s songs—which continue to take Americana in experimental new directions—have that in spades. Join Case and her band at the Commodore on Tuesday (February 13) and let your imagination run free.

CAMERA OBSCURA
Thanks to the indie-rock explosion touched off by the Arcade Fire in ’04, there’s nothing sexier these days than being a nerd. Hell, have you seen a picture of the Decemberists? Despite being unsightly enough to make Death Cab for Cutie look like the Stones circa Altamont, they probably get more ass than Tommy Lee at an Adult Video Awards after-orgy. All this make Camera Obscura—at Richard’s on Richards on Tuesday (February 13)—the indie-rock equivalent of a Viagra cocktail. You want a riot-nerrrd? You got it in singer Tracyanne Cambell, who looks like the world’s foremost expert on the Dewey Decimal System. Add to this the most gorgeously fey pop songs this side of Belle & Sebastian, and the result is the kind of band that gets horn-rimmed record-store clerks lobbing their unwashed Fruit of the Looms at the stage. Yes, we know that sounds every bit as frightening as a Jarvis Cocker/Beth Ditto wagon wheel, but trust us on this one. If Camera Obscura live is half as good as its latest, Let’s Get Out of This Country , this might be the show of the year. Or at least the week.

CRADLE OF FILTH
Poor Cradle of Filth. They want so badly to be from Norway, the home of black metal. But alas, this band of merry Satanists is from Suffolk, England, the home of tea and crumpets. So to compensate for their geographical shortcoming, they’ve been known to pull off little attention-grabbing stunts like sporting I Love Satan T-shirts in the Vatican, where they were promptly shown the door by gun-toting soldiers. We can’t confirm exactly what kind of blasphemous merch they’ll have on sale for the goth-metal kids when they hit the Commodore’s stage on Sunday (February 11) to promote their latest recording Thornography . But we’re pretty sure it will involve Jesus, blood, and the female anatomy; in fact, we’d be willing to bet a mint first-edition copy of Anton LaVey’s Satanic Bible on it.

ALEXIS PUENTES
Smithers in Northern B.C. may seem an unlikely place to find a world-class Cuban musician, but that’s where Alexis Puentes has been living since 2004. The singer-songwriter and guitarist—whose stage name is Alex Cuba—blends his homeland’s rhythms with jazz and acoustic pop in finely crafted compositions, and possesses an attractive and lightly smoky voice. Last year Puentes gained a Juno Award for best world-music album with Humo de Tabaco , and his latest release, Agua del Pozo , recorded in Havana and Victoria, is even better. Catch this rising star of the Latin scene tonight, (February 8) when Alex Cuba performs at the Media Club.

TIME FLIES
Spontaneous music-making doesn’t get much better than it does during the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society’s annual Time Flies festival, and this year’s edition of this instant-composition showcase will benefit from the presence of Phil Minton, who’s been developing his feral vocal moves since Mike Patton was a rug rat. He’s joined by an international cast of avant-gardists—including Seattle violist Eyvind Kang and British sax master John Butcher—at the Ironworks tonight through Saturday (February 8 to 10).