For the past four years, John the Conqueror have been winning crowds over by playing a blend of southern rock inspired from their childhoods, the punk of their adolescence, and the blues and soul that they’ve always held so closely. The end result is a band that takes its name from a folkloric slave hero with no frills rock ‘n’ roll ready to make an immediate impact. Tonight, John The Conqueror will celebrate their second and biggest release to date, The Good Life (Alive Naturalsound), at MilkBoy Philly. And it’s sure to be an action-packed show with Blayer Pointdujour & the Rockers Galore, who are getting ready to release a new LP in June, and indie rockers Thee, Idea Men, who also have their second album New Level Shoes on the way (due out May 20). MilkBoy Philly, 1100 Chestnut St., 9pm, $10, 21+ – Bill McThrill

Tonight The Boot and Saddle welcomes three Philly folk bands for a night of tender swaying and one out-with-a-bang goodbye. First up is the Kristen Sylvester-led ensemble, Spirit and Dust. Touting a polished sound with the looseness of an afterhours jam session with friends, each instrument and voice fits beautifully into a lyrical puzzle. Sadly, this will be Spirit & Dust’s final performance, but they still have a few new tunes to share alongside old favorites. They’ll be opening for headliner Black Horse Motel, who sound like they’re straight out of the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack (in a good way), and Song Dogs, a Southern rock-inspired Americana band with elements of gospel vocals and self-described “railroad tones.” The Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St., 8:30pm, $10, 21+ (Photo by Jen Kertis-Veit) – Maggie Grabmeier

TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb celebrated the release of their new album Kong and the kickoff to their SXSW tour last night at Kung Fu Necktie. Well, you can now stream and purchase the five-song EP below. It was produced and mixed by Bill Moriarty at Kawari Sound Recording Studio. Enjoy!

SXSW season is big business for TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb as they set out on their yearly twenty-show tour to Austin and back. Tonight at Kung Fu Necktie will not only be an opportune moment to wish TJ, a.k.a. Dan Bruskewicz, and the gang bon voyage, but also a chance to celebrate the liquored up indie folksters latest 5-song EP Kong, which will be officially released tomorrow and features the first recordings of old favorites like “Dynamite” and “Blood in the Bathtub.” They’ll be joined by melodic indie rockers Purples (ex-Teeth), who are getting ready to drop their debut album Nancy. Rounding out the lineup will be vivacious Toy Soldiers frontman Ron Gallo. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $10, 21+ – Bill McThrill

Creepoid just premiered the second music video, "Baptism," from their kick-ass self-titled LP (No Idea Records), via NYC music blog Wondering Sound. It was directed by Wade Vanover, and was partially shot on Super 8 film. The idea behind the ambiguous video is "to mimic the creation and deterioration of memory." The band is getting ready to head down to SXSW for a week packed with shows. (Photo by Andrew Swartz)

Check out a new track, "Climb To Me," from Pattern is Movement‘s highly anticipated self-titled album! It is scheduled for release on April 1 via Portland, OR indie label Hometapes. The dynamic duo of Andrew Thiboldeaux and Chris Ward are currently on a month-long tour with Yellow Ostrich. They’ll be swinging by SXSW for a few showcases, and will be back home in Philly for their record release show on Thursday April 3 at The Boot & Saddle.

Here’s a great new music video from buzzing Philly emo quartet Modern Baseball for their rocker "Your Graduation," off the band’s latest LP You’re Gonna Miss It All (Run For Cover). It premiered early today via Noisey, and was directed by Kyle Thrash. Modern Baseball is kicking off a massive tour with local pop-punk stalwarts The Wonder Years tonight in Clifton Park, NY, and the tour will be stopping in town for a sold-out show on Saturday, April 12 at the E Factory.

Art-pop outfit Auctioneer found its inner pop star with the band’s latest single "Hard To Believe It.," and I’m digging it. The mid-tempo, radio-ready track features the group’s first collaboration with drummer Tommy Bendel (Buried Beds), which could possibly get a bit more permanent with the departure of former drummer Todd Scheid, who will continue to produce and record acts out of his studio in the Lehigh Valley. Auctioneer will be headlining this evening at Johnny Brenda’s with support from some fine out-of-towners, Berlin-via-NYC dream-pop act Fenster and lo-fi Burlington, VT trio Hello Shark. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman

We’re sure that a lot of our readers out their are very excited to get their hands on The War on Drugs‘ upcoming LP Lost In The Dream, due out March 18 via Secretly Canadian. Well, next week, it will be streaming over at NPR Music’s First Listen, and here is a new music video for the album’s lead single "Red Eyes" to help tide you over. The low-budget America’s Got Talent parody was produced by the good, creative folks at Woodshop Films. The War on Drugs will be celebrating the record’s release at home on Tuesday, March 18 at Union Transfer (grab your tickets early because this show will sell out). Also, look out for them performing live at WXPN’s "Free at Noon." Enjoy!

Philly/Brooklyn noisy post-punk outfit Sore Saints just released a new four-song EP entitled Generous Lover, which is availble on 10" vinyl via local indie label Dullest Records. It was engineered and produced by Jon Low at Miner Street Studios. Sore Saints will be performing this Friday, March 7 at Kung Fu Necktie opening for Ringo Deathstarr.