Need to get yer rock on? Look no further than the Palomino this weekend, when Winnipeg record label Transistor 66 shoehorns a half-dozen of its acts onto a fist-pumping two-night bill. Friday, May 7 sees Calgary shit-kickers Cripple Creek Fairies and Miesha and the Spanks join Edmonton’s The Get Down, while Saturday, May 8 has BlackTop Five, Black Dirt of the West and Calgary ex-pats The Rowdymen (see our interview at ffwdweekly.com). Buy yourself a meat-sweat-inducing Palomino brunch in-between, and there’s no reason to go home. (And another Transistor signee, Sub City Dwellers, will be at the Distillery on Saturday, for any ska fans out there.)

Friday also holds a pair of local CD releases. Prog-influenced indie-rock quartet Nushi will be unleashing its debut full-length, Future Hazards, at The Marquee Room with help from Beija Flor offshoot The Magnetic North and a to-be-announced mystery band (fingers crossed for the Rolling Stones, but that might be aiming high). If solid melodies and shifting dynamics are your thing, this one’s a pretty safe bet.

At the same time, local five-piece The Bigfoot Rocketship has an EP it really wants you to hear. The latest in a proud tradition that includes Calgary’s Huevos Rancheros and Kids in the Hall favourites Shadowy Men from a Shadowy Planet, Bigfoot’s triple-guitar attack is sure to earn it a spot in the Canadian instro-surf pantheon.

Halfway through the column and we’re still not even through with Friday: Saskatchewan folk crooner Little Miss Higgins is set to charm crowds at the Ironwood’s fancy new digs. With a powerful voice and plenty of old-time charisma, Higgins’s blend of folk, blues and jazz standards is a tempting option in its own right.

But, on to Saturday. Brooklyn’s Eliot Lipp made his debut six years ago on Prefuse 73’s Eastern Developments label, and his sound is just as eclectic as you might think, drawing from electro-funk, Italo-disco and other, harder to peg styles. He’ll be turning knobs and shaking asses at the HiFi before heading on a quick U.S. tour.

Finish the weekend on a more organic — and more subdued — note on Sunday, when the Juno-winning Wailin’ Jennys hit the Knox United Church. After a shaky period mid-decade, the trio’s lineup solidified in 2007 with Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta and Heather Masse sharing vocal duties. Expect some impressively lush harmonizing now that they have three years together under their collective belts. Local folk-rocker Chris Gheran opens.