No vocalists allowed for this evening of primo instrumental rock. On Unwed Sailor’s latest album, ‘Mute The Charm,’ Johnathan Ford shares his love for ’80s pop tunes like “London Fog,” in which digitized guitar sounds recall the opening of U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name,” while Ford’s fluid bass summons memories of New Order. Unwed Sailor is a primary influence on Charlotte post-rock outfit Thousand Dollar Movie, and Brooklyn’s Of Sinking Ships craft sweeping...

Launched in 1987, Mexico City alt-rock band Caifanes adopted the moody grooves, black clothes and pale makeup of Robert Smith’s ensemble from across the pond, earning the stateside moniker “The Mexican Cure.” Early hit “Cuentame Tu Vida” is definitely indebted to Smith and Co., but a closer listen reveals the band’s wide-ranging variety, encompassing reggae, ’80s new wave, jazz torch songs, and traditional Mexican folk tunes.

Andy Frasco is a music veteran who’s never lost his youthful enthusiasm for rock. Hope even permeates his mordant 2022 single/video, “Oh What A Life,” on which features Frasco as a disheveled disillusioned circus clown. The Jangly, jaunty “Iowa Moon” off upcoming LP ‘L’Optimist’ is even sunnier. Charlotte’s Cosmic Collective are equally eclectic and upbeat, with tunes built on crab-walking bass, sparkling keys and Nikki Enslow’s bright, feathered vocals.

We love Petrov. The indie-rock powerhouse was our 2020 pick for top pop punk band, and best 2021 video winner for “Outlier." Latest single “Dior” eschews the four-piece’s careening post-punk guitars and muscular melodies, for a moody, hypnotic collaboration with rapper Killa. Trippy Atlanta shoegaze/progressive rockers Maiden Mother Crone conjoin the clangorous and the ethereal, while Charlotte’s Subvertigo craft dynamic alt-rock that turns from a whisper to a shout on a sharp shiny dime.

LA punk juggernaut X outlasted the late 1970s punk explosion that spawned it. A hard-hitting fusion of punk, rockabilly and blues, supporting the soaring/quavering blood harmonies of then-married couple John Doe and Exene Cervenka, X was today’s alt-roots music decades before its time. Chapel Hill’s Squirrel Nut Zippers soared to popularity in the 1990s and craft rollicking tunes from the sounds of old weird America — Crescent City jazz, Harlem jump, and jug band stompers.

Willa McCollough (aka Willa Mae) crafted her superb debut LP ‘Kids,’ a collection of lush, open hearted indie pop, at the tender age of 17. Recent single “Clean” reveals a harder rocking, defiant edge. By turns extravagant and old-timey, indie singer-songwriter Zoe Bayani draws from nostalgic Americana and folk to craft dreamy, catchy alt-pop. Solis’ winsome oneiric electronic pop fills the bill.

‘Inside the Covers,’ the recent LP by swaggering Southern indie rockers The Weeks, ranges from a sledgehammer deconstruction of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps” to a slinky spy guitar trawl through Billie Eilish’s “bad guy.” Seventeen years into its career, the raucous quartet continue to bring each song home with alt-rock populism, crackling authenticity and restless curiosity. Equally spirited and impassioned Charlotte legends Junior Astronomers crank it up with melodic and groovy rockers.

Jordyn Zaino’s 2022 album ‘who we weren’t’ is a live distillation of everything that makes the raw Carolinas cabaret rocker so distinct and compelling. Armed with her supple yet crunchy solo guitar and vocals that range from shouted defiance to feathered free-flowing reflection, Zaino delivers stripped-down gems with the force of a slingshot. NC indie rockers Galloway craft melodic, pensive and rhythmically complex pop. Columbia’s Middletooth strum and shout through propulsive start-and-stop single “Drop the...