Scruffy enough to know how to find a good time but just polished enough to aim at the big time, the latest record from Niagara Falls-based band Floozie is a lovable, ragged success for the quartet. She Wants to Be Some Body is a concept record, a rock and roll triptych that follows a female protagonist on a coast to coast journey in search of self. Floozie doesn’t overthink the album too much, and instead lets the riffs and rhythms do the heavy lifting. The band’s reckless, youthful zeal shows in a lot of what they do (in their bio they admit, with no shame, that they once opened for a member of New Kids On the Block) and, for whatever it might take away, this quality can be worth its weight in gold for a rock band. Singer/guitarist Jim Schwartz and lead guitarist Michael McGranor tear it up while bassist Marty Schebell Jr. and drummer Matt Manera hold it down. With She Wants to Be Some Body Floozie merges a likable brand of rough-shod pop/blues with a studio-crafted Ocasek/Cars sheen (thanks to noted Buffalo musician Nelson Starr taking on production duties) that lands them as one of the area’s hottest young bands—and there ain’t nothing wrong with being a hot young band. On the heels of their Thursday at the Square gig opening for Soul Asylum (a much more respectable act than Jordan Knight, fellas) Floozie celebrates the release of She Wants to Be Some Body this weekend with support from special guests Colors in the Air and Juxtaposse.

No cotton candy at this féile. The Buffalo Irish Festival is in its 26th year, and this one is sure to be the best yet. Sponsored by Guinness Irish Stout, the Buffalo Raceway and the Shannon Pub, the weekend begins on Friday evening with a parade of flag-bearers proudly showing the colors of each of Ireland’s 32 counties. This will be followed by a procession of dancers, musicians and local swells (think of the old neighborhood’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, but in pleasant weather). And for early birds who arrive between 5pm and 6pm on Friday, admission to the fairgrounds is free (same for those who arrive between noon and 1pm on Saturday.) The event’s appeal includes—and transcends—pints of Guinness, stepdancing, bagpipes, corned beef and much more. Musical acts include Seamus Kennedy, whose rapid-fire jokes encourage a rowdy audience, the Glengarry Boys, the Dady Brothers and fresh-faced Celtic quartet Scythian. A bottomless supply of musical entertainment occupies three stages all weekend, along with five Irish dancing groups stepping to the winding tunes of the bagpipe and bodhran. The festival features free parking, but no picnics or coolers will be admitted. The vendors have anything anyone could possibly want. Featured goods and crafts include kilts, sweaters, books, paintings, photography, ceramics and glassware.

This weekend the corner of Clark and Kent Streets (a.k.a. Superman corner), in the shadow of the Broadway Market, will once again be transformed into an old world Polish village square when the historic Corpus Christi Church presents the annual Dozynki Festival. Dozynki is an old Polish festival that celebrates the end of the grain harvest. Although these days there isn’t a whole lot of grain being grown on the East Side of Buffalo, you might be able to find some grain in its liquid form. In addition to a huge selection of genuine Polish beers, this year the church promises the annual festival to be the best one yet, offering a wide array of authentic Polish foods in the Polish Café, children’s activities, a Polish gift shop, a silent art auction, special masses and tours of the church (which was recently designated a NYS landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places), as well as a whole slew of musical performances, including an indoor concert with members of the Cheektowaga Symphony Orchestra at 4:30pm on Sunday. Led by conductor Judith Hirsch, the ensemble will play a varied program including Mozart, Bach and lighter fare. Preceding the concert the Reverend Anzelm Chalupka, pastor of the parish, and Bruce Woody will present a program of piano, guitar and voice. Other musical entertainment includes Al Kanias Polka Smile Eastern Style, the Pic-A-Polka Band with Joe Macielag, Achilles Revival and numerous pianists. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.corpuschristionline.org.

Notorious for his absurd glitch-opera about Don Henley, Dave Longstreth epitomizes the recent wave of young, conceptual-pop hipsters. For his newest Dirty Projectors project, Longstreth has done something paradoxically brand new and familiar: Recreating Black Flag’s 1981 album Damaged, his favorite from adolescence (although Black Flag fans expecting a faithful collection of covers may be sorely disappointed). Having not heard the album since middle school, Longstreth employed memory and imagination in equal measure to recreate the album again for the first time. “I wanted to see if I could make this album myself, not as plagiarism or mimicry but as an original creative act,” he told daytrodder.com. “I wanted to write a song that already existed. An album of them, actually.” Joining him on stage at Soundlab is the absolutely awesome Jona Bechtolt/aka YACHT (pictured), who describes his music as “an amalgamation of self-taught dance moves and anthemic electro-power jams all played backwards and covered in cherry cola.” In the vein of solo dance pop experimentalists Girl Talk or Dan Deacon— who merge the roles of sound-alchemist, DJ and court jester onstage—YACHT’s music just might be the best soundtrack to the final dance moves of the summer. Opening the show is Brooklyn perfect pop band Vampire Weekend.