High Places
Balance Stage, 1:25pm
Tropical-pop duo High Places turn equatorial rhythms into breezy, haunted music-box shanties. While Robert Barber works drumsticks and a sampler, Mary Pearson floats her siren coos over tracks that squirt and bubble like tubes of suntan lotion and treasure-chest aquarium aerators. In the heat and haze, no other band will sound so appropriate. —Brent DiCrescenzo

Boris
Connector Stage, 2pm
Japanese drone warriors Boris return to Chicago following last fall’s stunning Empty Bottle show featuring guest guitarist Michio Kurihara of Ghost. The trio trots out its latest LP, Smile, on which it enlists Kurihara for two playfully experimental tracks. Dinosaur Jr. fans take note: Guitar goddess Wata arguably does the fuzzed-out guitar thing better—and looks a hell of a lot hotter—than J Mascis. Time to break out that one-hitter you smuggled in, because it’s perennially 4:20 with Boris on the stage. —Areif Sless-Kitain

King Khan and the Shrines
Balance Stage, 3:15pm
On their Vice Records debut, The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines, this German nine-piece extols sweet, Stax-style soul around ringleader King Khan. His growls and wails sound more like Ray Davies suffering from a bear attack than James Brown, but he’s a uniquely captivating presence all the same. On top of that, his horn section can blow with the best of ’em. Their scorching blend of R&B and garage is dirty as hell, ensuring this will be the raunchiest, most high-energy set of the day. —Areif Sless-Kitain

Occidental Brothers Dance Band International
Balance Stage, 5:20pm
Many fashionable rock bands (cough, Vampire Weekend) count themselves fascinated by the polyrhythms of classic West African pop, but scant few possess the chops to pull it off convincingly. This Chicago band, led by leader-guitarist Nathaniel Braddock (the Zincs), doesn’t try to tame this beautiful music with Western ornaments but instead offers up respect through authentic interpretations and originals. A dance band for the thinking man. To hear OBDBI perform live, listen to The Infinite Loop, the TOC music podcast, at timeoutchicago.com/blog. —Matthew Lurie

Spiritualized
Aluminum Stage, 7pm
In 1997, Spiritualized opened for Radiohead’s OK Computer tour and nearly blew the seemingly unbeatable headliners off the stage. Since those heavier space-rock days, frontman Jason Pierce retooled his band into a gospel-laden orchestral blues outfit. But after Pierce nearly succumbed to pneumonia in 2005, what was once genre-dabbling turned into testifying. Nobody brings more heartfelt hallelujahs, and this performance will be the emotional climax of the weekend. —Brent DiCrescenzo

Cut Copy
Balance Stage, 8:25pm
This Aussie outfit looks trendy and featherweight on the surface—and really, there’s not much more to it than that. But brother, do they do a nice job of tweaking new-wavey guitar pop into irresistible dance rock. The band’s In Ghost Colours synthesizes fashionable influences into something beguiling and new—and live, the members bring it home. Emotional distance never sounded so good at the tight-jeans disco. —John Dugan