San Francisco’s Deerhoof are likely the only band who’ve ever had to tighten up their approach in order to cover the Shaggs’ " My Pal Foot Foot. " Over the course of four albums and 10 years, this harshly idiosyncratic ensemble have occasionally sounded like pre-schoolers giving nursery rhymes a free-jazz workout, a through-the-looking-glass deconstruction of prog rock, and crack-smoking Mouseketeers attempting a puppet-show version of the Beatles. But on their new Apple O’ (Kill Rock Stars), they cast aside cut-and-paste collage for the surging roar of guitars and sustained bouts of syncretic melody; singer/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki’s pipsqueak tweet sprouts hummingbird wings, and what tumbles forth is one of the most exciting rock-and-roll albums of the year. Deerhoof play the Berwick Research Institute (617442-4200) in Roxbury on Wednesday and Flywheel (413-527-9800) in Northampton next Friday, April 25. And their Bay Area post-punk neighbors Erase Errata are on tour behind an EP of electro remixes; this week they’re at Axis’s Saturday-night indie-dance party, Start! (617-262-2437), and then at AS220 (401-831-9327) in Providence on Sunday.

Chicago’s Thrill Jockey label sends its best and brightest our way this week. Califone, with former Red Red Meat principals Tim Rutli and Ben Massarella, have on their new Quicksand/Cradlesnakes evolved into a dynamic post-folk group with a Wilco-like ability to flesh out their somber roots rock with creaky full-band swells and shambling sound-collage: " Your Golden Ass " could be the sound of the shotgun at the marriage of the Stones and Sonic Youth. They’re at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton on Sunday and the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on Monday; Tortoise bassist Doug McCombs’s Brokeback open both shows (see " Off the Record, " for our review of their new Looks at the Bird). Meanwhile, Tortoise drummer John McIntyre is on hand in Sam Prekop’s the Sea and Cake, whose new One Bedroom comes off like a dance-friendly American version of a Belle & Sebastian disc — especially on its synth-and-drum-machines cover of Bowie’s " Sound and Vision. " The Sea and Cake play Pearl Street (413-584-7810) in Northampton on Monday and the Somerville Theatre (617-931-2000) on Tuesday.

Synth-rocking emo kids the Anniversary take time off from their opening slot on Cheap Trick’s tour to headline Pearl Street on Sunday and the Middle East on Monday. (Cheap Trick’s show at the Somerville Theatre on Monday, with former Dropkick Murphys guitarist Rick Barton’s band the Shadowblasters, is sold out.) And now that Kelly Osbourne has been playing a new song about her break-up with the Used’s Bert McCracken, we’ll see whether he retaliates when the Used hit Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Friday, the State Theatre (207-780-8265) in Portland on Saturday, the Roxy (617-931-2000) in Boston on Sunday, and Pearl Street on Tuesday.

BY CARLY CARIOLI