Rock/pop

The tiny Tin Angel stage lacks a hydraulic lift, so you'll have to imagine a brass section rising up to join the rustic trio Freakwater as they hit the rousing coda of "Hi Ho Silver," the closing track on their new album Thinking of You… (Thrill Jockey). Nominally alt-country, whatever that is, Freakwater have gradually shifted from earnestly creepy dead-baby ballads to genre-straddling concoctions that fall somewhere between the bluegrass of Kentucky and the reaches of outer space. Catherine Irwin and Janet Bean, who also drums in the slumbering Eleventh Dream Day, can hit that lonesome wail with the best of them (upright bassist Dave Gay fills out the permanent lineup), but Thinking of You…, the band's first new album in six years, benefits from Tim Rutilli's junk-drawer production, as well as instrumental assists from his fellow Califoneans. Six years after a near-breakup, Freakwater tours have become a rare event. Think of this as their comeback special.

Fri., Oct. 28, 8 p.m., $12, with John Parish, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0770, www.tinangel.com.