This week’s must-see Toronto shows

HAIM

Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim (rhymes with, well, “rhyme”) have taken the pop world by storm thanks to their idiosyncratic blend of taut 90s R&B-style vocals, 70s soft rock palette and contemporary indie pop hooks. Since their fiercely smart debut album, Days Are Gone, came out in September, the San Fernando Valley multi-instrumentalists have been touring non-stop and hitting the festival and late-night talk show circuits.

Their long-awaited Kool Haus show won’t be their first in Toronto – they opened for Vampire Weekend at the Sony Centre a year ago – but it’s their first visit since Days Are Gone’s release. Word is they rock harder live than on record, and with all that long hair, leather jackets and saucy stage banter, who would pass it up?

Thursday (May 15) at the Kool Haus (132 Queens Quay East), doors 7:30 pm. $25. LN, RT, SS.

ABSOLUTELY FREE, FRESH SNOW, MARCEL RAMAGNANO

Revue Cinema (400 Roncesvalles), Thursday (May 15)

Live soundtrack experiment.

DELETED SCENES, ASTRAL SWANS

Drake Hotel (1150 Queen West), Friday (May 16)

See preview.

FU MANCHU, ELECTRIC CITIZEN, ELECTRIC MAGMA

Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor West), Friday (May 16)

Stoner rock.

ELBOW, JOHN GRANT

Danforth Music Hall (147 Danforth), Friday (May 16)

English alt-rock.

GROUP OF 27

Trinity St. Paul’s Church (427 Bloor West), Friday (May 16)

Audience-participatory DIY symphony.

TV FREAKS, TEENANGER, DAS RAD

Izakaya Sushi House (294 College), Saturday (May 17)

Loud localish punk.

ROYAL WOOD

First Canadian Place Waterfall Stage (1 First Canadian Place), Thursday (May 15) Winter Garden Theatre (189 Yonge), Saturday (May 17)

See preview.

NEXT MUSIC FROM TOKYO: VOL 6

w/ Kinoko Teikoku, Uchu Conbini, Happy!Mari, jizue, Nayuta

Rivoli (332 Queen West), Friday (May 16) Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor West), Saturday (May 17)

Two nights with Japanese bands.

ELECTRIC ISLAND CONCERT + PICNIC SERIES

w/ Sven Väth, Mano Le Tough, Daniel Avery, Jamie Kidd, Rafwat & Chorniy, Jonathan Rosa and others

Centre Island (Toronto Islands), Monday (May 19)

Electronic music on the Island.

CHET FAKER, SWEATER BEATS

The Hoxton (69 Bathurst), Monday (May 19)

See preview.

PANDA BEAR

Opera House (735 Queen East), Tuesday (May 20)

Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox.

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE

The Garrison (1197 Dundas West), Wednesday (May 21)

Freaky, weird Japanese psychedelia.