The Mary Timony Band

Sat., June 16, 9 p.m., with Bitter Bitter Weeks, Georgie James and Welcome, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave.

by A.D. Amorosi

Rock/pop

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Maybe Mary Timony's dispatched with the Vikings and fire queens she hung out with during the last days of noisy, old Helium or the fluid, calm early days of her solo career. That doesn't mean her recent works are less fantastical, metaphorical or hyper-vivid. There's a explosive, nuanced luster to everything Timony sings: Klimt-like portraits of love and ruin with the direst details shining through. "You are sadder than the setting sun/ More beautiful than anyone," from "The Valley of 1,000 Perfumes" remains a fave. The Shapes We Make (Kill Rock Stars), her stripped-bare newish Who-ish effort, is wifty, loving and cranky with desperate romantic ballads ("Each Day") and organ-filled garage rockers (the very unromantic "Pause/Off"). Still, she's found a way to invoke the ocean waves and deep passionate hoots of yore without summoning Thor.

Sat., June 16, 9 p.m., $10, with Bitter Bitter Weeks, Georgie James and Welcome, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 866-468-7619, www.johnnybrendas.com.