Critic's Picks: Destroyer and more

First Avenue

While the local music community was eagerly abuzz in anticipation of the Plastic Constellations' imminent new record, nefarious, tectonic forces deep beneath First Avenue's mantle were astir. Just a few weeks ago, the disconcerting news came down that tonight's Mainroom appearance will be the band's final show before what is ominously being called an "indefinite hiatus." Is this goodnight or goodbye? The vibrant and indispensable rockers are reluctant to commit. Best to play it safe and pack the club, buy up every copy of the Plastic Constellations' appropriately titled We Appreciate You, and take this as a chance to return that appreciation for what may be the last time. With Doomtree in a rare supporting role, the Plastic Constellations are poised to go out on a legendary high note. All the more bittersweet: The new record is a direct hit. 18+. $6. 6 p.m. 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.332.1775. —David Hansen

MONDAY 4.21

The Mars Volta

Roy Wilkins Auditorium

L.A. band the Mars Volta come to town on the heels of their fourth album, The Bedlam in Goliath, which is stuffed with nine-minute alt-prog epics—the type the band has refined to blood-drawing sharpness over the past seven years. We're not quite sure what singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala is going on about in songs like "Aberinkula" and "Ouroborous." And we have no idea what he means when he proclaims, "I am a deaf con of Angora goats." But we do know that the super-complex time signatures and hectic sonic twists that make up the 75-minute CD leave us totally dizzy. $30. 7 p.m. 175 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul; 651.989.5151. —Michael Gallucci