In the early 90s Lifetime ripped through the New Jersey hardcore scene with a sound that many have tried to duplicate. While other bands began to fall off and become repetitive, Lifetime reinvented its sound and became a blueprint for modern day hardcore music. In 1997 — to the disappointment of fans across the country — they decided to call it quits. Suddenly in 2005 they did a couple Jersey-based shows, and shortly after announced an official reunion in a move that cemented Lifetime as a hardcore legend. The Return of Lifetime Tour includes up and coming band The Bronx, whose self-titled debut album will be available this week. Catch this show tonight (Thursday, July 13) at The Icon, 7pm.

At age 26, The Thirds are one of Buffalo’s longest lasting groups. For most of those years the trio has brought its music to the people, working the clubs, maintaining the kind of performance schedule that leaves little room for recording. In contrast to bands that seem to release two CDs for every ill-attended gig they play, The Thirds have just two releases—1982’s Songs From The City Line and 2004’s Anthology. Their continued appeal lies in the nice, live sound you hear when bassist Jim Brucato and guitarists Joe Head and Charlie O’Neill start singing in perfectly natural harmony. On Friday (July 14) the three return to a stage they’ve made their own since 1982—the front room at Nietzsche’s—in what should be a trademark mix of originals and covers by everyone from Tom Waits to Steely Dan to Lucinda Williams and more. This early show starts at 7pm.

Eerie, deep, and enchanting, the cello has had some difficulty finding the way onto the contemporary music scene. Thankfully, open-minded lovers of this classic chamber instrument can rely on the dedication and musical expertise of self-proclaimed “cello-rock” ensemble Rasputina. Founded in the early 1990s by classically trained cellist Melora Creager —who has toured with the likes of Nirvana and Marilyn Manson —Rasputina has run through a diverse and talented lineup of musicians throughout the years. Currently touring as a duet, Creager and percussionist Jonathon TeBeest bring Rasputina’s brilliant brand of classical yet contemporary (and somewhat chaotic) music —complete with colorful vintage costume —to Nietszche’s this Saturday (July 15) at 8pm. Performances by Michele Weber and Liz Abbott will follow.

The average customer may not notice, but Rust Belt Books has quite a nice theater space hidden in back. The original home of the Real Dream Cabaret, Rust Belt has heightened its profile, regularly hosting readings, art openings, plays, and performance art. Audiences will get a little of all those on Saturday (July 15), with the debut of Aaron Piepszny’s one man show, Mimee-O-GraphiTti: The Funky Vocab. Billed as a “post-modern hip hop mime drama and mind bending anatomical time distortion,” the event promises to be something altogether different — no surprise from the multi-talented Priepszny. A dancer with a degree in anthropology, he performed creative “fire movement” at Music is Art and most recently appeared in Pick of the Crop’s multi-media ensemble dance performance Elemental. Mimee-O-GraphiTti (which sounds like a perfect prelude to the upcoming Infringement Festival) starts at 7:30pm.

This Saturday (July 15) at Club Diablo, Buffalo is invited to find out what happens when man and machine meet — retro-sci-fi style. Sometime after 9pm, the area’s newest electronica artists Divine Machine will be bringing the goods to lovers of the psychedelic genre. Fully costumed like “an underground sect of robotic monks” (according to the press release), Divine Machine proposes to expose the audience to a sensory experience unlike any other. Alongside these self-proclaimed “synthetic prophets” will be Mark Webb and his impressive array of computer-free synthesized beats, and ambient, electro-industrial sounds by GreggreG.

HURT frontman J. Loren studied classical violin in his native Virginia, but rock-n-roll was forbidden. It wasn’t until he saw the video for Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy,”well into his teens, that he first heard rock music. HURT drummer Evan Johns grew up in Hollywood with a father who produced records for Led Zeppelin, and was gigging with seasoned musicians before he even hit his teens. Loren and Evans have proven quite a match, as is evidenced by HURT's hit single “Rapture,” which has spent over six months on the charts. The sound is mainstream enough for rock radio yet edgy enough to appeal to the fringes. See them Sunday (July 16) at the Icon with Mercy Fall and As Summer Dies, 7pm.

It’s nearly impossible to reference Peter Frampton without also mentioning his landmark 1976 album Frampton Comes Alive!, one of the best selling live records of all time, having sold over six million copies. Recorded at the Winterland in San Francisco the previous year, it crystallized the airy good time of 1970’s arena rock and introduced a bizarre guitar effect called a “talk box” to the masses, evidenced on songs like “Show Me The Way” and the 13-minute-long “Do You Feel Like We Do?” By then he'd been playing in bands for 11 years, having started at age fifteen with The Herd and later with Steve Marriott in Humble Pie. Frampton headlines the July 18 Tuesday in the Park series at Artpark with secret agents of the British Invasion (evasion?) The Ifs opening at 6:30.