Isaiah Rashad
With the Outfit TX, Blue the Misfit and Buffalo Black, 7 p.m. Thursday, September 11, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $3
In 2013, L.A.-based indie label Top Dawg Entertainment found a new wave of Southern trill in their newest affiliate, Isaiah Rashad. Deep from the heart of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the 22-year-old rapper fertilized the hip-hop sector with his fusion of struggle, strength and down-South sensibilities. After making his official debut with the TDE faction at the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Cypher, he followed up with the release of his 14-track project Cilvia Demo, titled after his 1995 Honda Civic. Culling influences from big-name artists like Master P, Erykah Badu, Outkast and Lil Wayne, Rashad transcends the artificial absurdity and transitory vices that sometimes plague hip-hop. His lyrical dexterity packs themes of introspection, frustrations and oppression into poetic melodies, all equipped with a good ol' Southern zing. As the September installment of the Red Bull Sound Select series, the show — which features trill local talents the Outfit TX, Blue the Misfit and Buffalo Black — costs an absurdly cheap $3 (with an RSVP). There may not be a hip-hop show with better bang for the buck all fall. Morganne Cameron
Kings of Leon
With Young the Giant and Kongos, 7 p.m. Friday, September 12, at Gexa Energy Pavilion, 1818 1st Ave., 214-421-1111 or livenation.com. $49-$69
Eleven years ago a record was released by a bunch of relatives from Tennessee that sent the critics into a tizzy as they jumped all over themselves to write the phrase "Southern fried" and hail the record as a clear announcement that "rock was back!" That record was Holy Roller Novocaine, and if Kings of Leon had called it quits after that album we'd be seeing think pieces all over the Internet by 30-something rock critics about the best band that almost was. Instead, after toying with their sound on their first two full-lengths Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak, the group cut their hair off, softened their look and their sound and became the commercial juggernaut that gave the world "Sex on Fire." Listening to "Holy Roller Novocaine" alongside "Sex on Fire," it's hard to believe it's the same band; the group that almost gave NME a collective heart attack is now a punch line for bad music for bad sex. Music is weird. Jaime-Paul Falcon
The Black Lips
7 p.m. Saturday, September 13, at The Granada, 3524 Greenville Ave., granadatheater.com, $22
Atlanta punk four-piece the Black Lips are coming through town and it's said they've got a post-workweek, smoke-soaked, salt-greasy catharsis steady in tow. Under normal circumstances, you could expect some wild antics from the Georgia bad boys. Given those particulars, who knows what will happen. (Let's just hope no one gets the golden shower.) The Black Lips have been raising their army of pee-thirsty, body-knocking fans since the release of their debut album, Black Lips!, in 2003. This year they put out their newest offering Underneath the Rainbow, which at least in Black Lips parlance resembles some sort of growing maturity — but we'll see how that translates live. If you're lucky, you might end up as sloppy as the band. Just think about leaving the heels at home if you don't want to be charged with involuntary manslaughter. It's bound to be a night of unabashed rock, roll and good-bad-not-evil decisions. Dalton Kane
Coheed and Cambria
With Thank You Scientist, 7 p.m. Monday, September 15, at South Side Music Hall, 1135 S. Lamar St., 214-421-2021 or gilleysdallas.com, $30/$35 at the door
To celebrate a reissue of Coheed and Cambria's commercial breakthrough, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, the band will perform the 2003 record in its entirety. A number of concert staples come from this album, like "Blood Red Summer" and "A Favor House Atlantic," so it might not seem like a drastically different set than a regular Coheed show from a distance. But this show is definitely for the hardcore fans, as many of them fell in love with the band with this record — the kind of people who have spent significant time reading the comic books based on the albums and have inked their bodies with their artwork. But if you don't go for that degree of fandom, it will still be an enjoyable show. The band has consistently and successfully channeled late-'90s post-hardcore filtered through Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and Jane's Addiction over seven albums. This is certainly a good way to cure a case of the Mondays. Eric Grubbs
Lily Allen
With MR Little Jeans, 8 p.m. Monday, September 15, at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., 214-978-2583 or houseofblues.com/dallas, $38-$59
After a four-year hiatus from music, Lily Allen returned this year with Sheezus, a synth-driven pop record as bubbly as it is sarcastic. If you remember the pint-sized, outspoken Allen for her sunny ska- and reggae-colored tunes like 2006's "Smile," a lot has changed in the eight years since. In fact, her songs sound a lot closer to Lorde's now. That might strike you as something of a me-too through line in her career's evolution, but what's engaging about Sheezus is that while Allen's beats and melodies want to hang with the Rihannas and Katy Perrys of the world, it's still weird to lump her in with them because she just sounds smarter. Indeed, the interval between records has only seemed to sharpen Allen's inimitable sense for satire. Steve Steward
