This Weekend’s Concert Picks: Los Campesinos! at Union Transfer, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia at Tower Theatre

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18
Los Campesinos! has finally embraced the misery it has hinted at for years. From Hold On Now, Youngster… to We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed to Romance Is Boring, Los Campesinos! has made a steady decline into twee-pop depression. The Welsh band’s latest album, appropriately titled Hello Sadness, doesn’t even pretend to be happy. It is an obvious reflection of the break-up that inspired it. The music itself remains unbearably anxious and involved, with countless beats and instruments, but the affect is much gloomier. Lyrics like, “This dripping from my broken heart/Is never running dry,” destroy any delusion of cheerfulness. The sound of Hello Sadness is still boisterous, but, as a whole, it is a melancholic departure from Los Campesinos!’s previous albums. There is a certain palatable maturity to it that isn’t present on any of its predecessors. Los Campesinos! will be performing with Reading Rainbow at 8 p.m. at Union Transfer; tickets to the all ages show are $15 – $18. —Caitlyn Grabenstein

Also Playing: XPN Welcomes Bell X1 + Favourite Sons at Johnny Brenda’s (9 p.m., 21+, $18–$20); Todd Rundgren’s Utopia at Tower Theatre (8 p.m., $49.50–$90); Hot Rod Circuit + Cartel, Smoke Signals, The Front Bottoms at Theatre Of Living Arts (7 p.m., all ages, $26); Joe Lally + The Gerunds, Helen Money at Kung Fu Necktie (7:30 p.m., 21+, $10); The Levee Drivers + Satellite Hearts, Thom McCarthy at The Fire (8:30 p.m., 21+, $7); TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb + Psalmships, The Looks Of It at North Star Bar (9 p.m., 21+, $10)

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 19
XPN Welcomes Drive-By Truckers and Jessica Lea Mayfield at Theatre Of Living Arts (8 p.m., $35); XPN Welcomes Chris Smither at World Cafe Live (7:30 p.m., $30–$42); Purling Hiss + Puerto Rico Flowers at Johnny Brenda’s (9:30 p.m., 21+, $10–$12); Peter Murphy + She Wants Revenge at The Trocadero (9 p.m., all ages, $23.50–$25); Summer Fiction + Steve Goldberg And The Arch Enemies, Brown Recluse at The Barbary (7 p.m., 21+, $10); The Fleeting Ends + LP Stiles at Milkboy Philly (9:30 p.m., 21+, $8–$10)

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 20th
Mastodon + The Dillinger Escape Plan, Red Fang at The Trocadero (7 p.m., all ages, SOLD OUT); Tom Rush at World Cafe Live (7:30 p.m., $35–$45)