Tonight's Show Suggestions

Little Penguins, Exploding High Fives, Red Sea Sharks at Comet Tavern, 9 p.m., $6

There's no doubt the Little Penguins should have received more local attention for Welcome To The Celebration, the band's first album of somber pop songs. But sophomore release Offer You This Cape, which features a new, fifth bandmate (Penguins frontman Will Hallauer's Turn Ons bandmate Erik Blood), might just get the Penguins the attention they deserved the last time around. Keys, harmonicas and twangy, distorted surf guitar riffs bleed together with the expert touch of a concert pianist pressing the damper pedal. In conjunction with Will Hallauer's melancholic vocals about cheating death and the nuclear age, Cape is an album of eerie sonic mutations, a sumptuous combination of shoegaze-y pedal work, Americana and modern cynicism. SARA BRICKNER

Portugal. The Man, Earl Greyhound, Wintersleep at El Corazon, 7 p.m., $14, all ages

Forget "Sarah. The Mayor"; The real thriller from Wasilla is Portugal. The Man. In the course of three years, this Alaska-based synth-noise four piece went from concocting chaotic keyboard tracks to sounding like a slightly mellower TV on the Radio. But that switch is no surprise, since Portugal. The Man (yes, that's the correct punctuation) is all about variety. Two members were part of now-defunct Portland hardcore heroes Anatomy of a Ghost; a third hailed from Konami Defense System, a band that sampled Nintendo video game theme songs. And every year since forming in 2005, Portugal. The Man has faithfully released an album, an annual step that brought the band closer and closer to the sound on this year's Censored Colors: Melodic vocals balanced with half-sparse, half-symphonic guitars and keyboards. It's about time for Portugal. The Man's 15 minutes of fame -- and hopefully, these guys will reach higher levels of success than Governor Palin and "Joe. The Plumber." PAIGE RICHMOND