Indie rock fans will be in for a treat when Okkervil River side project, Shearwater opens for Clinic at The Paradise on May 9th. In the meantime, be sure to check out the title track from their forthcoming fifth LP, Rook, which will be released on Matador June 3.

Don’t miss local indie hero Jason Anderson when he performs live at Somerville Arts this upcoming Saturday!

Also, make sure to get there early because opening for Jason is Vermont twee-popper and Grinding Tapes artist, Hello Shark. He’ll be playing his delightful brand of K-Records-inspired folk about bugs, teeth, and bubble guns.

Midlake are hard at work to their follow-up to their excellent ’70s-influenced sophomore effort, The Trials of Van Occupanther. This new album, slated for release sometime in 2008, will be entitled The Courage of Others. In the meantime, if you haven’t had an opportunity to catch up on their back catalog, now’s your chance!

As part of two larger international tours, Canadian critical darlings, Rock Plaza Central and Plants and Animals are teaming up for four US shows this May. You can catch both of these fantastic bands as their independent tours converge on May 18th at TT the Bear’s Place.

Rock Plaza Central burst onto the scene in 2006 with their independently-released and robotic-equine-themed debut, Are We Not Horses, which garnered lazy but understandable comparisons to Neutral Milk Hotel and justifiably topped numerous end-of-year lists.

Plants and Animals are also enjoying a significant amount of recent hype centering around their excellent debut, Parc Avenue.