Kevin Smead | SDUN Reporter

February may be the shortest month of the year, but it’s jam packed with tons of great shows. Here’s five good ones during the next two weeks if you’re having trouble deciding on who to go see.

Parkway Drive with special guests (to be announced) @ House of Blues, San Diego

Friday, Jan. 31

$22 advance / $24 day-of

While metalcore is not everyone’s cup of tea, there’s something undeniably great about Parkway Drive. The band features some of the most talented musicians performing today, and the group’s blend of beautiful, shredding guitar melodies with an absolutely punishing rhythm section is darn near perfect. It’s also worth mentioning the group consists of a bunch of Aussie surfer dudes who are just living the dream. Even if you’re not a fan of heavier music, Parkway Drive is still definitely worth checking out.

Into It. Over It., The World is a Beautiful Place & I am no Longer Afraid to Die, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Big Bad Buffalo @ The Ché Café

Monday, Feb. 3

$10 advance / $12 day-of

I was fortunate enough to see Into It. Over It. open for Saves the Day the last time they were here. While it’s normally just one guy (Evan Thomas Weiss), he often tours will a full band, playing emo indie-pop that comes closer to pop-punk. Into It. Over It. put on a heck of a show last time and it’d be great to see them headlining this time around. Also, TWiaBP&IanLATD (phew!) is pretty incredible and are worth going for alone. Their very Midwest-emo inspired sound is something I’m really into and the fact they make good, minimal use of keyboards helps too. Shake off that Monday blues with some good jams.

Mother Falcon, The Midnight Pine @ Soda Bar

Tuesday, Feb. 4

$10

I’ve been going nuts over Mother Falcon lately. This beautiful, massive (at any given time there’s more than 15 members) chamber pop group from Austin, Texas plays new-school music with an old-school sound. Horns, violins, cellos, and guitars all come together to form one powerful and immersive musical experience. What keeps it all together, though, is the songwriting which is accessible and catchy. Also, they’re playing every Tuesday night in February with a different opener, so if you can’t make this one, go to the next one.

Schitzophonics, Neighbors to the North, Amerikan Bear, Gloomsday @ The Casbah

Saturday, Feb. 8

$8

Schitzophonics won this year’s San Diego Music Award for “Best Hard Rock,” and it’s very much deserved. Their fuzzy garage sound has enough of a psychedelic influence that you could easily mistake them for a group out of the early ‘70s. Their music is pretty easy to get down to, and I’ll never say no to great bass work, which the three-piece group has plenty of. The lo-fi garage theme continues into the openers, too, making this a great night of pure rock ‘n roll.

White Denim, Clear Plastic Masks @ The Casbah

Sunday, Feb. 9

$13 advance / $15 day-of

Keeping with the theme of the right amount of psychedelic influence, I’m glad to see White Denim headlining a tour here. Its sound is a bit more relaxed than the garage rock groups of the previous evening, but the raw musicianship is still there. These guys write some great tracks and don’t go overboard with the noodly guitar work. Plus, their new album, “Corsicana Lemonade” is really groovin’, so it’s worth going to see them play tracks off of that.