Last Minute Plans: The Swan King

As comprehensive as any year-end local music guide can be, there will be lapses, and excellent acts will slip through the cracks. One primary example: Rockers The Swan King, who, along with creative flier-makers Bongripper and lo-fi riff peddlers Backs, will be playing the Burlington on Saturday. Catch the trio you can, because their February 2011 debut on Seventh Rule, Eyes Like Knives, rocks something fierce, with songs such as "Staring Through Skulls" coming off like Mudhoney with a sharper, more jagged rhythmic attack and a stronger sense of dynamics. Stream Knives below.

Saturday, January 14, at The Burlington, 3425 W Fullerton, 9 p.m., $5 suggested donation, 21+