Austinist Show Preview: Grupo Fantasma, Centro-matic, Riverboat Gamblers, Car Stereo (Wars)

I. Grupo Fantasma CD Release Party @ The Mohawk. Austin's own Grupo Fantasma is known in the Latin music community as a band that skillfully pushes the boundaries of the genre while keeping one foot planted in the traditional styles that they respect. You might say they're the saviors of Latin funk. Grupo tours heavily, doing as many as 150 shows per year or more. They've played as Prince's backing band in recent years, including performances at the Super Bowl, the Golden Globes and Coachella. The 11-piece's latest album, Sonidos Gold, is scheduled for North American release on June 17. Already, many are singing its praises. Having said all that...Grupo plays the official CD release party this Friday at The Mohawk. Needless to say, it'll probably be packed. Doors are at 9pm. DJ Chicken George opens.

II. Centro-matic (w/ South San Gabriel) @ The Parish. Austin's favorite recent transplant, Centro-matic never fails to produce a memorable live experience worthy of its Denton roots. Led by prolific, soulful crooner Will Johnson and virtuoso drummer (nay, percussionist) Matt Pence, the band rolls into town with several special guests this Saturday to promote its latest work, a double-disc album collectively entitled Dual Hawks. Attendees also get a special treat: a pre-show screening of the film Salt Creek County, the story of a man who believes he was carried by a giant bird. After a stint in a local mental hospital, he devotes all of his time to attempting to proving his story. The dark comedy is an attempt to lure the thinking mind back into a time of simple innocence, a time when pure beliefs and child-like acceptance were meaningful. The film stars Will Johnson, portraying the younger brother of the bird-obsessed protagonist.

III. Riverboat Gamblers @ Red 7. The Gamblers are basically punk rockers with a strong sense of taste. This is a modern punk outfit whose tunes don't automatically make you feel like you're in a soda commercial, which is a good thing. With their 2006 release, To The Confusion Of Our Enemies, these Austin boys made a name for themselves nationwide as a group that wasn't afraid to push the envelope, both in their fiery live performances and in their bold, flagrantly genre-indifferent songwriting. For the record, that's (1) plenty of sweating, screaming, driving guitar riffs and stage-diving and (2) no cliche, whiny, mid-90s punk-revival garbage. Hit this one if you don't mind ruining your perfectly good shirt while taking whiskey shots and yelling with your fist in the air. That's right, friend: tonight, you're dangerous. Hex Dispensers, Mock Tigers, and The Frantics open. Doors are at 8pm.

IV. Car Stereo (Wars) @ Beauty Bar. It's that time again, and you can bet your sweet ass this one will make the Statesman's A-List, so wear something ironically stylish for that glorious dancefloor photo op, for chrissakes. Yes, welcome to post-postmodern mash-up DJ heaven, where the Top 40 artists of cheesy yesteryear hold hands and dance in symbiotic glee, freed from the chains of critical ridicule and definitions of "cool" at long last. Christopher Rose, aka Car Stereo (Wars) - transformer of all that is camp n' kitsch in the Western musical back-catalog into that which moveth your feet with irresistible impulse - hits Beauty Bar this Saturday. Sure, you'll walk in muttering about hipsters, ironic consumption and the frivolity of American mainstream musical icons....but you'll walk out at 2am with your shirt off screaming, "Ahhh! Give me pop culture or give me death!" For you have been saved.