15 metro Phoenix local music picks for June

Mega Ran and Emby Alexander are launching tours in a month that also features release shows for Le Zets and Bella Lune, a 15th-anniversary show for Minibosses, and the Father Figures hosting an event called Blender.

6/4: Mega Ran

This former middle-school teacher's hip-hop profile got a huge boost in 2007 when he hit the streets with "Mega Man," an album completely comprised of sampled 8-bit beats from the "Mega Man" video game series. This is the blastoff show for his Emerald Knights Tour, a string of U.K. dates that launches June 10 with a show in London. Also playing: Bag of Tricks Cat, Mr Miranda, Real Gone (Maggs + Yaymee K), ABC FREE IME, IC Cake, JRob The Chief, Klassick MC, Modern Poets, Big Serg and El Jay Beats.

Details: 7 p.m. Thursday, June 4. Club Red, 1306 W. University Dr., Mesa. $10. 480-258-2733, clubredrocks.com.

6/5: Bogan Via release show

Local synth-pop revivalists Bogan Via have made good on the promise of 2012's "Wait Up" with a radio-friendly new EP called "Madly," recorded in Los Angeles and Copenhagen with Le Chev, who's worked with Frankie Rose and Fisherspooner, co-producing. They've earned raves from Consequence of Sound, whose reviewer responded to "Kanye" with "Sounding like Tennis on a bunch of downers, Miller and Bender share vocal duties as pulsing synths slowly bleed out around them." They're joined by Grizfolk and Luna Aura, whose self-titled EP made our list of best local releases of 2014.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 5. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $10. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.

6/5: Emby Alexander tour kickoff/album release

What better way to celebrate the kickoff of a tour than by combining that launch with an album release show? "Behaves Like Beehives" is their followup to last year's "Frontispiece." And they've already shared the title track, a pulsating post-punk bassline topped by haunting psychedelic textures, a nagging chorus hook delivered in anxious falsetto and jingle bells. If the rest of the album is half as intriguing as that song, it should be well worth tracking down. Also playing: Snake! Snake! Snakes! (I'd add another exclamation point but that might seem like overkill), Spiritual Warfare, the Dead Woods and Dent.

Details: 8 p.m. Friday, June 5. Rebel Lounge, 2303 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. $10; $8 in advance. therebellounge.com.

6/5: Banana Gun

These local rockers like to keep you guessing, effortlessly shifting gears from Princely funk to banjo-driven bluegrass jams and back again with skronking saxophone and occasional flashes of punk or maybe post-punk in the mix. Under "Description" on their Facebook page, they wrote "alternative jazz, rock, blues, indie sound. Did that clear it up?" Well, no. But a show would clear it up just fine. And if you go to this one? Captain Squeegee will be there to win you over with their heady brand of neo-psychedelic prog as a van full of jazz performance majors raised on ska would play it. And as challenging as Captain Squeegee's music tends to be, the end result is usually as entertaining as it is ambitious, thanks in large part to their front man's front man, Danny Torgersen.

Details: 8 p.m. Friday, June 5. Last Exit Live, 717 S. Central Ave., Phoenix. $5. 602-271-7000, lastexitlive.com.

6/6: Cold Shott & the Hurricane Horns

These Rhythm Room regulars are now in their 24th year of bringing funk, soul, R&B and blues to Phoenix. "Soulutions," their 20th anniversary album, sets the tone with the Stax-worthy, horn-driven pleading of "Stop" before working its way through such obvious highlights as "Diggin' on James Brown" and exemplary covers of "Turn Back the Hands of Time" and "Vehicle." Also, damn, that bassist is amazing.

Details: 9 p.m. Saturday, June 6. Rhythm Room, 1019 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. $8. 602-265-4842, rhythmroom.com.

6/7: Field Tripp

Dan Tripp, who also plays guitar in Snake! Snake! Snakes!, released not one but three EPs with Field Tripp last year, one of which, "Les is Mormon," turned up on our list of 2014's best local releases. There's a haunted psychedelic quality to much of what they do, whether coaxing a blanket of Dinosaur Jr-worthy fuzz from Tripp's guitar amp toward the ended of "Wrapped in Plastic" or drifting through the muted noise-pop atmosphere of "Leave the Engine On." And Tripp is a great performer, so the music more than holds up in a crowded bar. Also playing: Saddles, Pro Teens and the Lonesome Wilderness.

Details: 8:30 p.m. Sunday, June 7. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $5. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.

6/10: 'Round About Midnight: Celebrating the Music of John Coltrane

The Valley Bar's monthly jazz night gets off to a strong start with the Eric Rasmussen Quartet paying tribute to the music of John Coltrane, a towering figure in the history of jazz. A free-jazz pioneer, Coltrane honed his chops as a sideman for Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk before launching his solo career with 1957's "Coltrane," the first of several early masterpieces, including "Blue Train," "Giant Steps" and "My Favorite Things."

Details: 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 10. Valley Bar, 130 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. $5. statesidepresents.com.

6/13: The Father Figures Present the Blender

The Father Figures came up with the concept for this Blender exercise, which takes headlining artists from four different genres and has them each pick one song from another artist on the bill in addition to playing their own material. In addition to Father Figures (whose post-punk attack is described in the Blender press release as post-skate-rock), it features Pelvic Meatloaf (heavy metal), Grave Danger (surf and rockabilly) and Dephinger (punk). Dephinger and Grave Danger will cover each other while Pelvic Meatloaf and the Father Figures swap songs. This will be the first installment of a twice-yearly event hosted by the Father Figures, who after five years of playing local shows, felt the need to shake up the routine.

Details: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $8. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.

6/17: Twin Ponies

Three of these guys — Wayne Jones, Phillip Hanna and Jordan Tompkins — were in Tugboat together. Guitarist Jacob Lauxman is a great addition to that core lineup. They've apparently been working on a followup to "Pore," a 2013 EP whose more inspired moments appeared to be channeling the artier and more infectious side of the '90s alternative-rock sound at the same time (which would explain a track called "Willoughby"). Also playing: The Ghost Wolves, Casual Encounters, DJ Parameterchild.

Details: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 17. Last Exit Live, 717 S. Central Ave., Phoenix. $5. 602-271-7000, lastexitlive.com.

6/18: Red Tank! release show

These Tempe garage punks kicked off 2013's "Squalor in the Year of Black Magic" howling their way through an eerie psychobilly-flavored track called "Sexy Zombie Virus." And they managed to keep the intensity level in the red as they followed through with such trash-rocking triumphs as "Feral Touch/T Rex," the aptly titled "Primal Scream" and the over-driven fuzz-guitar of "Blues Jam." This show celebrates an all-new Red Tank! album, the brilliantly titled "I Want You To Crowdsurf My Body At My Funeral." Also playing: Snake! Snake! Snakes! and Boss Frog.

Details: 8 p.m. Thursday, June 18. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $7; $5 in advance. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.

6/19: Le Zets album release show

Holy hell, this record rocks — "Deadweight" is a primal blues explosion that at times recalls the speaker-shredding swagger of the White Stripes' first few efforts, especially on "Favor for a Favor." After serving notice that "We're making all our own rules now," lead singer Margo Swann lets loose an unhinged shriek going into the solo and Richard Romero lives up to the promise of that introduction with a brilliantly raunchy explosion of notes. "Red Death Mobile" is a faster ride, more garage-rock than blues-punk, with a killer chorus hook. And the sound is amazing, captured by producer Bob Hoag, who may have gotten Romero's amp to go to 12 for those times when 11 just isn't enough of an extra push over the cliff. Also playing: The Love Me Nots.

Details: 9 p.m. Friday, June 19. Rip's, 3045 N. 16th St., Phoenix. 602-266-0015, facebook.com/rips.bar.7.

6/19: Minibosses 15th Anniversary Show

It's fairly doubtful anyone in Minibosses thought a 15th-anniversary show was in the cards when they first started working up challenging, prog-friendly covers of videogame theme songs in the year 2000. And yet here they are, Their latest album, "Brass 2: Mouth" found them having their way with the themes to "Tecmo Bowl," "Excitebike," "The Legend of Zelda" and more. It's musicianly stuff, but it's also really fun — as rare a combination now as ever.

Details: 9 p.m. Friday, June 19. Yucca Tap Room, 29 W. Southern Ave., Tempe. Free. 480-967-4777, yuccatap.com.

6/25: Bella Lune CD release

"Tranzendance" is a haunting collection of darkwave songs, the words delivered in a dreamy, digitally processed voice by a singer named Fuchsia. It's been a decade since Fuchsia & Kal3id started work on a debut called "Abstracted Visions," which hit the streets in 2008. And they've clearly had the time and opportunity to get that sound down to a very dreamy science. Also playing: Alter de Ruine, Body of Light, A0n.

Details: 8 p.m. Thursday, June 25. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $8; $6 in advance. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.

6/26: Luxxe CD release

These Scottsdale rockers recently posted a song from this record called "One" on which they filter acoustic guitars through the majestic pop sheen of a OneRepublic (who they cite, along with Justin Timberlake and James Brown, as an inspiration on their Facebook page). But their Soundcloud page also features a bluesy acoustic-guitar-driven stomp called "Pick a Dollar" that sounds like they just spent a weekend listening to Alan Lomax field recordings. Also playing: Something Like December, The Breaking Pattern, Weslynn.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 26. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $12; $10 in advance. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.

6/27: Pageant album release

Pageant is Kristina Moore and a rotating cast of friends, which for the purpose of 2013's "Orogens" included Dylan Pratt. The latest song she's posted on the Pageant Bandcamp page, "I Tried, I Tired," is a melancholy breakup song that builds a soundscape of experimental chamber-folk around her wounded vocal. Also playing: Nova Joven and Saw Fox.

Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 27. The Trunk Space, 1506 N.W. Grand Ave., Phoenix. 602-256-6006, thetrunkspace.com.