Tonight, Tonight: Jónsi at Verizon Theatre, Jason DeRulo at House of Blues and Envy at Rubber Gloves

If you like Iceland, Auto-Tune or Japanese screamo, boy, you're in luck tonight!

Jónsi at Verizon Theatre
Sigur Ros frontman Jónsi stops through the region tonight, touring behind his first solo record, Go, which finds him discarding his "Hopelandic" language in favor of English. If nothing else, that means listeners might finally understand what he's saying, and, surely, that's a good thing. This new music isn't all too different from Jónsi's output with Sigur Ros, although it is somewhat of a nice change in direction for fans who wanted the band to head off in more of a noise-pop direction. Those people bound to salivate over this collection of lush instrumentation, for sure.

Jason DeRulo and Auburn at the House of Blues
Between his appearance on Dancing with the Stars and touring with Lady Gaga, Jason DeRulo has rather quickly (and quietly) become a rising star. His self-titled debut came out in March of this year and has already gone gold. It's not that sales figures equal greatness or anything, but songs like "Whatcha Say" and "Ridin Solo" are pretty damn catchy slices of urban pop that DeRulo delivers with ego in check. Also, anybody who samples Imogen Heap is fine by me. Minneapolis' Auburn opens up tonight's show with her own brand or smooth pop and R&B.

Envy, La Dispute, Touche Amore and And So I Watch You From Afar at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio
For almost two decades, Envy has been one of the leading hardcore/screamo bands hailing out of Japan. The Tetsuya Fukagawa-led band has actually mellowed out (a bit) on the recently released effort Recitation, though. It's still fairly brutal, but the band has added in some interesting post-rock elements that allow the listener some needed respite. Also on tonight's crowded bill is La Dispute, a fine punk band hailing out of Michigan. La Dispute is currently working on its sophomore effort, but fans of melodic hardcore should check out the band's 2008 debut, Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair, post haste. Also, be sure to get to the venue early and catch Ireland's And So I Watch You From Afar, an all-instrumental outfit that knows how to bring the noise.