Sonic Pit Weekly: Digable Planets, Titus Andronicus, American Football, BoDeans and more

August arrives with a crowded week of hip-hop, punk, metal, country, reggae, jazz and plenty of summer-festival action.

Tuesday

Digable Planets (Mr. Smalls Theatre, Millvale): The hip-hop trio from Brooklyn, via Philadelphia, made jazz-rap cool in 1993 with the Grammy-winning “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat).” Then, its dark, densely layered follow-up, “Blowout Comb,” released a year later, became the deeper cult classic. Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Mariana “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira and Craig “Doodlebug” Irving are marking the album’s belated 30th anniversary with a full-band tour. Pittsburgh synth-funk producer Buscrates opens.

Wednesday

Mohini Dey (City Winery Pittsburgh, Strip District): Indian bassist Mohini Dey has played with Steve Vai, Willow, Zakir Hussain and Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, drawing from jazz fusion, funk, prog and Indian classical music. She arrives behind the July release “The Dey Way,” which includes guest appearances by Willow and drummers Gergo Borlai, Eric Moore and Larnell Lewis.

Thursday

Titus Andronicus (Bottlerocket Social Hall, Allentown): It’s been four years since the last album, so Patrick Stickles brings the New Jersey indie-punk wrecking crew back for a “Greatest Hits 2008–2015” set, focusing on the band’s gloriously unruly first four albums — especially its Civil War-sized 2010 masterpiece, “The Monitor.” The band has even restored early drummer Eric Harm for the occasion. Pittsburgh indie-rock favorites The Zells open the sold-out show.

J. Roddy Walston (Thunderbird Music Hall, Lawrenceville): The rocker from Richmond arrives without the “Business” but still armed with the pounding piano, shredded voice and wild-eyed Southern-rock fervor heard on songs like “Heavy Bell” and “Don’t Break the Needle.” Walston, who issued his solo debut “The Other Side” in 2023, plays this rare intimate show as a benefit for the Bartko Foundation, which assists single minority mothers.

Friday

Five Finger Death Punch (The Pavilion at Star Lake, Burgettstown): It’s a metal Friday in Burgettstown with this Vegas band marking 20 years of riffage and rage with the release of it 10th album, “Legacy.” Guitarist Zoltan Bathory described it as a “reflection on the journey, the lessons, the victories, the struggles, and everything we’ve experienced over the last two decades.” In the opening slots are Texas outlaw-country star Cody Jinks and Detroit hard-rock band Eva Under Fire.

Mathias Lattin and Dylan Triplett (South Park Amphitheater): Here comes the next generation of the blues. Houston guitarist Mathias Lattin became the youngest musician to win both the International Blues Challenge and its best-guitarist award when he swept the competition at 20 in 2023. St. Louis singer Dylan Triplett, meanwhile, won a Blues Music Award for his debut album, “Who Is He?” The concert is free.

BoDeans (The Oaks Theater, Oakmont): Forty years after “Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams” established the BoDeans as one of America’s premier roots-rock bands, Kurt Neumann and company are giving the album the deluxe anniversary treatment. The two-and-a-half-hour show incorporates a video retrospective and songs spanning all 14 BoDeans studio albums, with ’80s college-rock staples sharing space with “Closer to Free,” the ’90s hit that became the theme to “Party of Five.”

The Word Alive (Preserving, New Kensington): The Word Alive marks two milestones on this tour, revisiting its 2010 debut, “Deceiver,” and 2016’s “Dark Matter.” The Arizona-bred band has moved from metalcore toward a more polished mix of heavy riffs, electronic textures and melodic choruses over the years. Not Enough Space, Foreign Hands, Downswing, Church Tongue and Code:Words fill out the six-band bill.

Friday-Sunday

Shindig Music Festival (Zelienople Community Park): Old Skool, Dancing Queen and The Vindys headline this three-day festival covering a range of genres including blues, rock, pop, New Orleans jazz and country-rock. Proceeds from the family-friendly festival benefit local charities.

Saturday

Parker McCollum (The Pavilion at Star Lake, Burgettstown): The Texas troubadour just canceled a few shows to welcome the family’s second child, but he’ll be back on the road this week, touring behind a self-titled fifth album that pushes his sturdy country-rock in a rawer, more personal direction. Munhall native and “American Idol” alum Gabby Barrett makes this a homecoming bill, with Missouri singer Kassi Ashton opening.

Rock, Reggae & Relief (Forbes Avenue and Market Square, Downtown): Downtown gets an all-day island makeover for the ninth Rock, Reggae & Relief, led by original UB40 singer Ali Campbell delivering “Red Red Wine,” “Kingston Town” and the rest of the British band’s sun-soaked catalog. G. Love & Special Sauce return with their loose blend of blues, hip-hop and funk, while The Elovaters and Tribal Seeds represent reggae’s younger generation. The expanded two-stage lineup also includes The Hip Abduction, The Expendables, Surfer Girl, Fubar and Emily Brimlow, with proceeds benefiting local causes through the Piatt Family Foundation.

The Outlaws (Allegheny Riverfront Amphitheater, Kittanning): Frontman Henry Paul, 76, leads the 51-year-old band responsible for “There Goes Another Love Song,” “Green Grass and High Tides” and some of Southern rock’s most combustible jams. Country-rock band 7 Mile Run opens the free waterfront concert.

The Oak Ridge Boys (Fayette County Fair, Dunbar): The Oak Ridge Boys’ American Made Farewell Tour keeps rolling, giving fans another chance to hear one of country music’s most recognizable vocal blends. William Lee Golden, Richard Sterban and company reach across five decades for gospel harmonies, country smashes and the irresistible bass-vocal hook of “Elvira.” “American Idol” alum Alex Miller opens the show, which is included with fair admission.

Nascar Aloe and Jasiah (Preserving, New Kensington): Rap collides with hardcore on the “Capital Punishment Tour,” pairing two artists known for short, distorted songs and confrontational live shows. North Carolina’s Nascar Aloe emerged from the SoundCloud underground with the screamed punk-rap of “FED UP!” while Dayton native Jasiah broke through with the similarly abrasive “Crisis.”

Roger Humphries (City Winery Pittsburgh, Strip District): Pittsburgh drummer Roger Humphries leads an afternoon jazz celebration of Bill Strickland, the Manchester Bidwell founder who created MCG Jazz and brought generations of major artists to its North Side concert hall. Humphries, whose credits include Horace Silver, Ray Charles and Stanley Turrentine, has spent more than six decades performing and teaching in Pittsburgh. The program is presented with MCG Jazz.

Sunday

American Football (Roxian Theatre, McKees Rocks): American Football’s first album barely registered upon its 1999 release, then quietly became the blueprint for a generation of emo bands. After spending two years celebrating “LP1” with a remaster, a starry covers album, a live record and concert film, Mike Kinsella’s band is taking those delicate, intricate songs on a full 2026 world tour. Montreal dream-pop trio Afternoon Bike Ride opens.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Hartwood Acres Amphitheater): Big Bad Voodoo Daddy helped put zoot suits, fedoras and jump blues back into ’90s pop culture with “Go Daddy-O” and “You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight.” Nearly three decades after its “Swingers” breakthrough, the original core remains in place, roaring through an old-school cocktail of swing, jazz and rhythm & blues.

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY

Ceremony, “Tell Me Your Dream”: Over two decades, the California band Ceremony has shape-shifted from powerviolence to hardcore, post-punk and New Wave. On its seventh album, Ceremony reunites with producer John Reis for a 10-song set inspired by the politically charged anarcho-punk of Crass and Discharge. “We’re living in an era of mass uncertainty,” vocalist Ross Farrar said. “In punk, I don’t see how you can’t respond. It’s taken over our lives in so many different ways — economically, politically, spiritually. We want people to wake up and get into what’s happening.”

Dinner Party, “Watchu Bringing?”: Dinner Party has quite a guest list even before anyone else arrives: saxophonist Kamasi Washington, pianist Robert Glasper, multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin and hip-hop producer 9th Wonder. On the supergroup’s first full-length album, the four serve up sleek jazz, soul, hip-hop and R&B, beginning with the warm, hopeful single “If It Ain’t Broke (Love Wins).”

Dionne Warwick, “DWuets”: At 85, Dionne Warwick is calling “DWuets” her final studio album, and it’s star-studded. Produced by her son Damon Elliott, it pairs her instantly recognizable voice with Cynthia Erivo, Kehlani, John Legend, Mya, Saweetie and other younger stars on a collection written entirely by Diane Warren.

God of War, “molly picture”: God of War — Doug Dulgarian of They Are Gutting a Body of Water with Hooky’s Scott Turner and Sam Silbert — follows its 2023 debut, “serotonin,” with another warped collision of shoegaze, metallic noise, electronic disruption and buried pop melody.

John Carpenter, “Cathedral”: Created with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, “Cathedral” accompanies the horror master’s first graphic novel, a supernatural tale of murder and subterranean evil beneath an abandoned Los Angeles cathedral. Each of its 14 ominous synth-and-metal instrumentals corresponds to a chapter, although Carpenter designed the album to stand just as darkly on its own.

Margaret Glaspy, “I Am Both”: After stepping away from social media, Margaret Glaspy rediscovered the clarity to write longhand, polish the words on a typewriter and record her fourth album live in just three days. Producer Joe Henry helps frame it all in earthy, folk-leaning indie rock.

The Mountain Goats, “Days”: John Darnielle originally imagined the Mountain Goats’ 24th album as “Grunges,” a companion to 2017’s “Goths.” It grew into something broader: a wry, wistful trip through the accumulating memories of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, with titles including “Song for Layne Staley,” “Candlebox,” “Best Hard Rock Albums 2013” and the lead single “Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds.”

“Most songs here are in major keys but don’t let that fool you,” he said in a statement. “If you do let that fool you I have a bridge to sell you; there is nothing on the other side of the bridge. Still, you shouldn’t let that deter you. Who am I to tell you what kind of bridge you need, or where the bridge you need should lead? Nobody, really. Nobody at all.”

Slow Fiction, “dollhouse”: After building a buzz in New York clubs, Slow Fiction squeezes its restless energy into a self-produced debut filled with jagged guitars, surging rhythms and Julia Vassallo’s emotionally exposed vocals.

Twenty One Pilots, “More Than We Ever Imagined (Live in Mexico City)”: Twenty One Pilots goes big — even by Twenty One Pilots standards — on this live companion to the duo’s recent concert film. Recorded before 65,000 fans at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros on the “Clancy” tour, it captures Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun turning their genre-hopping catalog into a stadium spectacle.