Minus Story’s latest album My Ion Truss (Jagjaguar) was released last week, while the band was touring with Shearwater and Xiu XIu’s Jamie Stewart. The melodically quirky recording is an approximation of what audiences should expect, a sound reminiscent of Built to Spill and Modest Mouse with some haunting hints of Roxy Music. (The band refers to their own sound simply as “Wall of Crap.”) Minus Story headlines a show in Buffalo this Thursday (tonight, June 28) at the Icon, bringing along fellow Lawrence, Kansas band the Old Canes and UK groups Middlemen and the Audience. Doors open at 8pm.

For a band that was launched onto the Buffalo music scene by the Goo-Goo Dolls, Toy Box Heroes are bit more “bad-boy” in their approach to rock and roll. Frontman Angelo LoGalbo puts on a high intensity show, and accompanying band members brothers Matt and Andy Blackwell support that with classic rock riffs and steady backbeats. Playing off traditionally romantic story lines, the group has released a catchy seven-track album with the hopes of attracting the attention of a major record label. The self-proclaimed “all-American band” will be performing in patriotic style just as Fourth of July excitement builds. Show starts at 7pm on Friday (June 29), at Club Infinity with One Foot in Heaven and Amanda Nagurney

Southern California’s Ozma produces head-bopping tempos and melodies with delicious pop-rock songs such as “No One Needs to Know” and they have a set of impressive guitar walks, especially on the track “Barriers.” After playing shows with Rooney, Weezer, Nada Surf, Rilo Kiley, the Get Up Kids and other similar artists, Ozma is stepping out on their own, traveling to the east coast and Buffalo’s Icon for a show on Friday (June 29). The band consists of a group of guys and a girl who all share vocals and create an amalgamation of lyrics. River Cuomos, lead singer of Weezer, has been a major supporter of Ozma’s endeavors and pulled them onto tours two years in a row. With a new CD, Pasadena (Coptic records), Ozma is out to claim musical glory.

Serbian-born singer/songwriter/guitarist Ana Popovic has traveled around the world with her fiery soul-inspired music. Her first release under Delta Groove Productions, Still Making History, had her working with a producer who has also worked with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Santana, Otis Rush and Bonnie Raitt. With a compilation of funky electric guitar slides, tight reggae-blues notes and a touch of soulful femininity, the album is set to break some rules and set its own standard in the industry. Hand selected by the “King of Soul,” Solomon Burke himself, Popovic is sure to wow the crowd in more than one way. Catch her performance on Saturday (June 30) at the Lafayette Tap Room, at 9:30pm

There’s a new hope in the world of Buffalo rock in the form of Mother Red. The band’s driving forces are Joe Orlando (vocals/guitar) and Matt Roberts (guitar), late of Victory Records hardcore stalwarts Buried Alive. Along with Sean Kader (bass) and Joe Folmar (vocals/drums), Mother Red delves into heavy, swampy guitar strewn rock with firm roots in punk traditions, yet veering from punk’s directness and concision with extended instrumental breaks and tinges of psychedelia. Sounds like our kind of rock, so we’ll be checking out Mother Red’s debut on a bill with Siren St. Shutdown and Speaker Fire this Saturday (June 30) at Nietzsche’s starting at 10pm.

Charlemagne is the solo project of one Carl Johns from Madison, Wisconsin. Johns played in the brooding country band Noah John before striking out on his own under the moniker of Charlemagne. With the country influences scaled back, Charlemagne began crafting perfect psychedelic pop music. With a third album on the way, his talent as songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and arranger has gained the attention of various hip music magazines, and for good reason: This is intelligent music for fans of the Stone Roses, Elf Power or even the Magnetic Fields. (Bruce Springsteen is also a fan). Charlemagne performs on Sunday (July 1) at Mohawk Place at 8pm. Also playing are the Old Sweethearts, who have a new album on the way, and Tracy Morrow & the Magi Chippie.

D-I-Y rocker Amy Cooper is a California girl who cut her teeth musically while studying photography in New York City. Inspired by Greenwich Village underground musicians Arto Lindsay and Blonde Redhead, Cooper was soon sharing stages with comparable performers like Juliana Hatfield, Martha Wainright and Tracy Bonham. Returning to the Bay area in 2005, she released her first album, Water/Fire, and a few years later (after trading San Francisco for L.A.) her follow up EP, Mirrors, was released on Retone/Leftwing Records (May 2007). Cooper’s brand of “hard pop” gets her compared to Liz Phair and Patty Smith a lot, and her guitar skills have some critics mentioning Keith Richards, too. Cooper plays Mohwak Place on Monday (July 2) at 9pm.

The newly christened six man band Lever Down consists of (from left to right) Ryan Nogle, Shane Davis, Jason Widger, Brian Best and Mike Conley, with vocalist Rich Radice pictured in the second row. Radice, formerly of the bands National Trust and Junction West, recently joined up with members of Hastings to form Lever Down. The band’s first performance is on Wednesday (July 4) as part of the Anchor Marine Canal Concert Series at Gateway Harbor Park in North Tonawanda. The concert series happens every Wednesday during the summer, starting at 6pm. This Independence Day show will feature two 40 minute sets by Lever Down, followed by the A-List and plenty of Fourth of July festivities.