The 10 Best Concerts in Dallas This Week: Untapped Fest, CHVRCHES & More

In a bleary-eyed Halloween hangover, we stumble into this Monday with a beer-themed festival, "not-so-indie" pop act Chvrches and garage rock saviors Parquet Courts gracing Denton once again. So instead of giving sullen, wistful looks at your sagging cobweb decorations, shine some light on your bones at any of these Dallas shows.

Subhumans
8 p.m. Monday, November 2, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., threelinksdeepellum.com, $15
Is there anything more raw, distilled and powerful than English anarcho-punk? Subhumans was one of the bands leading the charge following the mania of the Sex Pistols, diving into anarchist ideologies as a serious pursuit and not out of bloodthirst for counterculture. The product was fury. A fury that against all odds has endured to 2015, where we're supposedly all too soft and sensitive or something. But for those who just want to watch the world burn, Subhumans proudly wave the black punk flag. Matt Wood

Puscifer
8 p.m. Tuesday, November 3, at The Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm St., 214-670-3687 or liveatthemajestic.org, $40-75
Maynard James Keenan's ideas manifest themselves in schizoid, kaleidoscopic fashion in Puscifer's wildly imaginative sets, designed and dressed with an eye for the obscene and ornate. Channeling one part Dr. Strangelove and one part Cabaret, Puscifer's stage show is partially improv-driven comedy and wholly inspired by Keenan's obvious affection for fusing World War II-era ambience and sultry, electronica-imbued, operatic rock. Distinguished by more electronic and pop elements than Tool's mammoth metal masterpieces, Puscifer's music sounds like that of a man stretching his id to the breaking point, but with a reasonable sense of humor and humility still firmly in place. Hanna Levin

The King Khan & BBQ Show
8 p.m. Wednesday, November 4, at Club Dada, 2720 Elm St., dadadallas.com, $12-14
Garage rock's basic components have never been terribly complex. Mangle your guitar's distortion, play faster 120 beats per minute, and sing hoarsely about life's platitudes or even just go for the nonsensical root. But King Khan and his pal Mark Sultan (or, you know, BBQ), stripped down the genre into spare parts and then rearranged them to make a supercharged V8 Interceptor, blasting down the highway. Never in my life have I see two men in Luchador masks make as much noise as they did during their last show at the Granada, and it's likely that I'll never see a more perfect display of the Garage Rock Ideal. MW

Parquet Courts
With Party Static, Sin Motivo and the Noids, 9 p.m. Thursday, November 5, at Rubber Gloves, 411 E. Sycamore St., Denton, 940-387-7781 or rubberglovesdentontx.com, Sold out
Even the biggest skeptic has to grant a few things to the Brooklyn-via-Denton duo Parquet Courts (and their less fussed-over alter-ego Parkay Quartz), who've been dubbed the best garage/punk band of our time by critics across the spectrum. The potency of early stream-of-consciousness single "Stoned and Starving," for example, is undeniable. I myself have consistently found palpable relief in the cyclical charms of "Instant Disassembly" and the endearingly straightforward "Pretty Machines." Making a return to Denton, Rubber Gloves makes this a can't-miss — if ever a skeptic could be won over, it's in the sweaty thrashing this no-frills venue provides. You'll be close enough to see the lines on their faces and far enough away from all the hype to take in the music on its own terms. These guys aren't quite Japandroids when it comes to pure adrenaline, but I dare you to say that from the front row, two feet from the noise — you won't be able to hear yourself speak. Brian Peterson

CHVRCHES
With Mansionair, 7 p.m. Thursday, November 5, at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6507, $32-34
It's been a pretty good year for CHVRCHES, the Scottish indie-electronica act that may soon have to ditch the "indie" descriptor. The mainstream is starting to take notice of this up-and-coming trio, who first made their mark in the actual indie world in 2011 with the release of Beginnings. In the ensuing years, CHVRCHES has gone on to make their way around the American and European festival scenes, playing SXSW, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Reading & Leeds and Bonnaroo in just the past few years. As electronica has found a wider audience thanks to the popularity of artists like Ellie Goulding, Avicii and others, CHVRCHES is the logical progression. Think of CHVRCHES as the band that you discovered before your boring, pseudo-raver college friends ever even realized that they exist. Amy McCarthy

Zac Brown Band
7 p.m. Friday, November 6, at Gexa Energy Pavilion, 1818 1 Ave., 214-421-1111 or gexaenergypavilion.net, $32.50-$77.50
Over the past few years, as the Zac Brown Band's popularity has soared ever higher, the Georgia-bred outfit has made a convincing case as country band that's not very country. Brown and his talented group of players haven't, save for a couple of exceptions, produced the cliche slice-of-life ditties, nor the revved-up bro-country drivel that's most commonly associated with country music these days. When investigating the group's entire catalog, it can often feel more rock and Americana than country. A recent collaboration with Dave Grohl and the group's latest LP, the ambitious, gold-selling Jekyll + Hyde, presents the band in a more unique manner than ever before. The 16-track collection of tunes has found homes on rock radio (the Chris Cornell duet, "Heavy is the Head") as well as country, and has firmly planted Brown in the rarified Music City terrain where an artist can make any kind of music he damn well pleases as the stuffy establishment has to just take it and like it. Kelly Dearmore

Cheap Trick
With Ian Moore and the American Fuse, 8 p.m. Saturday, November 7, at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6507 or thebombfactory.com, $35-$300
I didn’t know this until I read Cheap Trick’s bio on the Fun Fun Fun Fest site (they play there on November 6), but apparently Cheap Trick wrote the theme song for The Colbert Report. In light of a career that’s spanned over 40 years, spawned three huge singles that will continue to permeate the collective consciousness for eons and eons, and produced probably the best-known live album in history, writing the theme to a cable news satire program is basically just extra icing on a hugely popular cake. But mmmmm… icing, and the cake it goes on is undeniably tasty, anyway. Cheap Trick might not be your favorite classic rock band, but in the way that other people prefer pie, or brownies, or Jello over cake yet still eat cake whenever cake is around, I think it’s safe to say that mostly everyone likes Cheap Trick just fine, even if their favorite band is, for example, Humble Pie. But even if your favorite band is neither Cheap Trick nor Humble Pie (is your favorite band Cake?), close your eyes and imagine Robin Zander looking at a packed house at The Bomb Factory and declaring, “I want you… to want me!” If you see that happen in real life, I bet you’ll remember it as long as you live. That’s really why you should go. Steve Steward

Untapped Festival
2:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., Saturday, November 7 at Fair Park
In an effort to combine life's two greatest gifts, Untapped Festival brings music and drinking to the big Texas cities that need it most (even though Dallas is the only one that matters). Headliners the Flaming Lips and Dr. Dog will be absolutely perfect backdrop for the feel-good fest, and more than 400 beers doesn't hurt either. If you have any friends who don't see the appeal in this, think about getting some new friends immediately. MW

Gogol Bordello
With Antemasque featuring Travis Barker, 8 p.m. Sunday, November 8, at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6507 or thebombfactory.com, $29.50-$32.50
It's been 10 years since Gogol Bordello first came out with their renowned album, Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike, which became an instant classic and a part of many a punk's album collection. Frontman Eugene Hütz sings in various languages and is known to vocalize his radical political opinions in songs like “Note a Crime” and “Revolutions.” His colorful and energetic presence is influenced by his proud immigrant heritage, having come to a life in the U.S. as a political refugee from the Ukraine during the early 90’s. The band's own strand of the genre is akin to an Eastern European street party complete with raucous dancing and gang vocals and the variety in the band’s musical styling, which is an amalgamation of Ukrainian folk, Latin, dub and rock, an eclecticism that's reflected by their fan base, which isn’t just limited to the punk scene but extends to anyone who loves a good show. From the band’s humble start in Manhattan’s Lower Eastside in 1999, they continue traveling tirelessly as they celebrate the anniversary of the release of Gypsy Punks today. Pablo Arauz

B1A4
7:30 p.m., Sunday, November 8, at Verizon Theatre, 1001 Performance Place, Grand Prairie, 972-851-5111 or verizontheatre.com, $104-204
To paint B1A4 in the broadest strokes, they’re basically the Korean One Direction. They’re the kind of corporation-spawned pop-machine that generates relentless hit songs that dominate airwaves and possibly have subliminal messages hinting at humanity’s inevitable demise. And deep down, didn’t we all have a feeling that the end of times would be signaled by five dreamy boys with physic-defyingly perfect hair? We can only blame ourselves — they even gave themselves a robot name, for God’s sake. MW