This week you can finally upgrade your copy of Pocket Full of Kryptonite with a 20th anniversary edition. These are the kinds of things -- Spin Doctors albums, Cobain offspring, The Offspring, etc. -- that make you feel old. Here's a fun chat with their bassist, the subject of a funny Todd Barry bit who also happens to live in Houston.

New compilation from the Brian Jonestown Massacre; alas the CD does not come packaged with an on-stage meltdown. If you've wondered what the Counting Crows' August and Everything After sounds like live, well, August and Everything After Live at Town Hall is the CD for you.

Glen Campbell's Ghost on the Canvas, what will be his last album while he's on his farewell tour, is cause for being misty. Other great albums where the artist knew it'd be the last? Zevon's The Wind is up there. I liked Lee Hazelwood's Cake or Death (turns out you can't have both), though it was hardly a career-best work. Not sure you could make the case the Notorious B.I.G. was certain of his impending demise with Life After Death, but the title and cover . . .

Much buzz about the new Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band that still makes great songs and fatty albums.

And Phantoms by Ume, who have ties here, is one of the week's standouts.

left to right: Trees, Ume, trees

Albums out this week

Aerosmith, The Essential 3.0
Balam Acab, Wander/Wonder
Beirut, The Rip Tide
Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Singles Collection
Glen Campbell, Ghost on the Canvas
Cobra Starship, Night Shades
Counting Crows, August and Everything After Live at Town Hall
John Doe, Keeper
Mike Doughty, Yes and Also Yes
David Guetta, Nothing But the Beat
Juliana Hatfield, There's Always Another Girl
Icarus Line, Wildlife
Robert Earl Keen, Ready for Confetti
Tommy Keene, Behind the Parade
Kittie, I've Failed You
Lenny Kravitz, Black and White America
The Latebirds, Last of the Good Ole Days
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV
Eric Lindell, West County Drifter
Edwin McCain, Mercy Bound
The Nightwatchman, World Wide Rebel Songs
Jake Owen, Barefoot Blue Jean Night
Powerman 5000, Copies, Clones and Replicants
Puddle of Mudd, Re:(disc)overed
Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'm With You
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Am I the Enemy
Spin Doctors, Pocket Full of Kryptonite: 20th Anniversary Edition
Static Jacks, If You're Young
The Stereo MC's, Emperor's Nightingale
Tommy Stinson, One Man Mutiny
Ume, Phantoms
Various artists, Reggae Gone Country
Butch Walker, The Spade

In Houston this week:

wednesday

• ROBERT EARL KEEN Singer-songwriter has a sprightly new album in Ready for Confetti. 5 p.m. at Cactus Music (requires purchase of CD). 7 p.m. at House of Blues Bronze Peacock Room ($200 buys two tickets and CD).
• MILKTOOTH Because Baby Tooth would be a terrible name for a band. This Tennessee band makes indie rock that is more driving than meandering. With the Fox Derby. 9 p.m. at the Mink
• NEKROMANTIX Psychobilly from Denmark of all places. 8 p.m. at Warehouse Live
• BRAINS FOR DINNER Local band has been serving up rootsy rock and reggae for seven years. 8 p.m. at Fitzgerald’s

thursday

• PACO ESTRADA Estrada makes folksy and soulful pop with his band, One Love. 9 p.m. at the Continental Club
• LEGION They share a bill with Metalloyd, Annihilist, Overdose, Deathrazor and K.T.C.M. Don’t go expecting ballads. 8 p.m. at Warehouse Live

friday

• DIPLO Diplo was plenty well-known in electronic music circles before his mutually beneficial working relationship with M.I.A. resulted in greater renown for both of them. The DJ passes through town for the first time in a long time. 9 p.m. at Fitzgerald’s
• EILEN JEWELL Eilen Jewell is a singer-songwriter from Boise, Idaho, who turns out rootsy singer-songwriter songs that rise well above that overstuffed genre thanks to a dash of old rockabilly and surf in the music and a bit of jazz in her voice. Last year she turned out Butcher Holler, a tribute to Loretta Lynn, and this year released a strong collection of originals in Queen of the Minor Key. when 7:30 p.m. at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
• BLACK CONGRESS You’d be hard pressed to find a none-more-blacker band in town than Black Congress, who turn out arty aggro stuff. They’re joined by New York’s the Men. 10 p.m. at Rudyard’s
• DAVE MASON Legendary session man and Traffic player is joined by Mark Farner, Rick Derringer, Gary Wright and Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals for Hippiefest. It seems more like Post-Hippiefest, but who are we to harsh their mellow? 8 p.m. at the Arena Theatre
• GRUPO FANTASMA Austin band adds elements of reggae, pop and electronica in a funky mix that gets bodies moving. 8 p.m. at Miller Outdoor Theatre
• BOB SCHNEIDER Don’t be fooled by the title of Schneider’s brand new album, A Perfect Day. There’s a Band-Aid on his forehead on the cover, and the songs suggest he’s still often at his best when things aren’t going all that well. 7 p.m. at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
• THE GOODNIGHT SUMMER TOUR It’s a big one with the Urgent Young, Castle Lights, Deep Ella, Dashboard Confessional’s John Lefler, A Thousand Colors, Alkari and local favorite Spain Colored Orange. 8 p.m. at Warehouse Live
• GRAVE BABIES True to the name, there’s something sad and sweet about this Seattle duo, which is apparently on a farewell tour. 8 p.m. at Fitzgerald’s
• DALE WATSON Few people can sing hard-times songs better than Lone Star legend Dale Watson, whose hickory voice is perfect for the hurt and heartache of honky-tonk. 9 p.m. at Blanco’s
• DAN HAERLE Texas jazz pianist leads his band over two nights. 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Cezanne
• SKYROCKET Do you love the ’70s and ’80s? This Austin supergroup, featuring some ex-locals such as Trish Murphy and Johnny Goudie, does. 9 p.m. at the Continental Club

saturday

• WILD MEN OF SOUL Roy Head, Archie Bell, Little Joe Washington, Andre Williams and the Allen Oldies Band perform. 8 p.m. at the Continental Club
• ACTIVE CHILD Active Child’s debut album, You Are All I See, hasn’t even been released yet, so the group is hardly well known. But Pat Grossi’s otherworldly voice is the kind of thing that will undoubtedly find its way to TV, where it will accompany some poignant death scene for some beloved character. So now may be the time to see this band before it has its breakthrough moment. With the lazily named Com Truise. when 8 p.m. at Fitzgerald’s
• KID ROCK/SHERYL CROW Two very different survivors sharing one big bill. Kid Rock could’ve gone the way of most other rap-metal mooks, but instead he reinvented himself as the bullgod of redneck rockers. Sheryl Crow managed to kickstart a solo career years after adding backing vocals and Aquanet hair to Michael Jackson’s stage show. If Picture is your favorite slow jam, it’d take a well-placed asteroid to prevent it from being played. 7:30 p.m. at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
• THE DODOS Mercifully the freak-folk tag has been euthanized as it became a lazy catchall for any band that played acoustic songs with some sort of eerie embellishment. The Dodos — a psychedelic folk group from San Francisco — would’ve likely been victimized by the tag. They’re clever with instrumentation as evidenced by No Color, released earlier this year. With the Luyas. 8 p.m. at Fitzgerald’s
• WAGONEERS It looks like the reunion took. The Wagoneers — who stormed out of Austin in the late-’80s with a jet-fuel brand of honky tonk — have played two Houston shows since getting back together earlier this year. And they seem to be enjoying them, which explains why there’s already a third. 7 p.m. Saturday at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
• KILLER MIKE OutKast associate and fellow ATLien Killer Mike has landed a few hits but hasn’t quite become a household name. He’s out on the road plugging PL3DGE, as he remains dedicated to the grind. 8 p.m. Saturday at Numbers
• ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL With Bob Wills long gone, Ray Benson’s crew keeps the King of Western Swing’s spirit moving. 8:30 p.m. at the Dosey Doe
• ZOE Rock en Español with a psychedelic bent by a veteran ensemble from Mexico. 8 p.m. at the Arena Theatre
• BRICKS IN THE WALL All and all, it’s just another Pink Floyd cover band. 9 p.m. at House of Blues
• ESCATONES This League City ensemble serves up sparkling and reverbed-out surf-rock guitars right out of the ’60s. And when they sing, it gets a little Byrds-y. Which is to say, they’ll scratch a retro itch very well. With the Nouns and Infinite Apaches. 10 p.m. at Rudyard’s
• WHITE MYSTERY Red-headed sibling duo turns out turbocharged garage rock. If the whole thing sounds familiar, well, there’s a void in sibling(ish) garage rock duos these days. With the Energy, and Vivian Pikkles and the Sweethearts Uber Alles 9 p.m. at the Mink

sunday

• VENOMOUS MAXIMUS The name isn’t an overstatement. This Houston band brings sledgehammer metal and hard-driving rock. With Ancient Wisdom and Ocean of Slumber 10 p.m. at Rudyard’s
• HEADHUNTERZ Dutch DJ tandem of Willem Rebergen and Bobby van Putten are actually aiming for your feet not your head. 8 p.m. at Warehouse Live

monday

• UPROAR FESTIVAL Loud and proud, it features Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape The Fate, Sevendust and others. 2 p.m. at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

tuesday

• JIM LAUDERDALE A first-class songwriter with a great voice equally at home with honky tonk or bluegrass Jim Lauderdale has written a zillion hit singles, no small number of them sung by George Strait. Lauderdale’s never become a household name, but he’s a deft writer and a great performer. His latest is the bluegrass album Reason and Rhyme, which he co-wrote with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. 8 p.m. at the Dosey Doe