Sunday Show Suggestions

Shelby Lynne, Raul Malo at Tractor Tavern, 8 p.m., $30

Country music is not known for great singing or ethnic diversity. But Raul Malo comes to us as a two-for-one package--a Miami-born Cuban with a crushed-velvet voice. Former frontman for Grammy-winning Nashville phenom The Mavericks, Malo makes countrypolitan music. Over the last few years, his albums have been like late-night Sinatra sessions, with Malo wrapping his husky vocals around traditionally twangy cover songs like "Take These Chains From My Heart" while the band frames him with lush, waltz-y elegance. His forthcoming album, Lucky You, maintains that polished classiness (Malo will forever be the singer who presses his black denim and buttons his top button). His first album of original material in nearly a decade, he applies contemporary Nashville production to '50s pop, Latin-flavored rock, and lounge-y ballads. The result, while exquisite, is a tad schmaltzy. His big, beefy voice--which recalls Roy Orbison, George Jones, and Chris Isaak--delivers songs that are akin to the drenched-in-sentiment pap trafficked by Hollywood and Hallmark. In real life, however, few desire to be loved to death by a man. BRIAN J. BARR

The Von Bondies, Nico Vega at Neumos, 8 p.m., $10

Detroit-based rock band The Von Bondies set the music scene abuzz with their flawless 2003 debut album Pawn Shoppe Heart. Just a few months later, the band's lead singer Jason Stollsteimer got his ass whooped by White Stripes frontman Jack White for talking smack. The high-profile altercation unfortunately overshadowed anything Stollsteimer and his band mates did thereafter. But that could soon change, thanks to the Von Bondies' latest release, Love, Hate And Then There's You, an album filled to maximum capacity with pummeling bass, raucous guitar riffs, and killer hooks. Stollsteimer pisses and moans through quintessential garage rock tunes like "Pale Bride" and "21st Birthday" that are destined to have listeners shouting along. Now all Stollsteimer has to do is keep his shit talking to a minimum, and he and his band should be back on everybody's radar for all the right reasons by tour's end. ERIKA HOBART