They Might Be Giants

9 p.m. • First Avenue • 18-plus • sold out

Although their status as physical giants remains up in the air, these lovable alt-rock weirdos are metaphorical giants thanks to their sneaky presence over the past few decades. You're likely in the minority if you can't recite a piece of Turkish history to the band's 1990 cover of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" or scream-shout their Grammy-winning theme song to '00s sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle." TMBG has dabbled in kiddie music since 2002, but new album "Glean," due out Tuesday, returns to the beloved Dial-A-Song process where the band records songs onto an answering machine. Alex Nelson

The Soft Moon

9 p.m. • 7th Street Entry • 18-plus • $10-$12

The Soft Moon is mainly just Mojave Desert-raised drifter Luis Vasquez, an electronic producer/rocker with a wealth of emotions. Instead of dealing with them like your typical emo kid (by penning awful, melodramatic poetry into tattered and stickered notebooks), this visionary pours his angst into deeply intense soundscapes. His emotions surface in sonic spaces that are at once expansive and claustrophobic, sometimes switching from roaring to sensitive in a flash. Though Vasquez told Vice's music blog Noisey that his music-making is self-serving in a therapeutic sense, he's generously expressing himself across the globe on a massive world tour. Experimental guitarist Noveller opens along with locals Oaks and DJ Jim Frick. A.N.

David Hidalgo and Marc Ribot

8 p.m. • Cedar Cultural Center • $30-$35

If they aren't guitar gods, they are certainly A-listers. Whenever sideman extraordinaire Ribot (Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Black Keys, John Zorn) gets together with Los Lobos frontman Hidalgo, it's a loose but lovable collaboration. The focus is on what they call Border Music — Cuban/Mexican/Latin music that comes from, among other places, the Los Lobos songbook and two recordings Ribot made with his group, Los Cubanos Postizos. The duo might even throw in a Merle Haggard or Bob Dylan tune. Jon Bream

Information Society

8:30 p.m. • Fine Line • 18-plus • $20-$25

The Twin Cities' own '80s dance-pop pioneers, Information Society, have done an admirable job updating the familiar sound of their 1988 megahit "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" — one of VH1's top 100 "One-Hit Wonders of the '80s" — with a few modern musical twists and topical turns on their first album in six years, "_hello world." Bandleader Paul Robb is finally making it back to the band's hometown with his original InSoc partners, singer Kurt Larson and bassist/keyboardist Jack Cassidy. Thought Thieves and Dance Assault open with DJ Jake Rudh. Chris Riemenschneider