Philly music featuring Jingle Ball, mgk, the Happy Fits, the Starting Line and Algernon Cadwallader

This week in Philly music features hometown shows by two reunited Philadelphia pop-punk bands in the Starting Line and Algernon Cadwallader, plus South Philly arena dates with the artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly and the the all-star Jingle Ball tour. Also on tap: club shows with the Dream Syndicate, Rhett Miller and Greg Mendez.

Pittstown, N.J.-born and Philly-based pop-rock quartet The Happy Fits headline the Fillmore on Thursday. The band, fronted by singer and electric cellist Calvin Longman, is on tour for Lovesick, their snappy fourth album, and first since founding member Ross Monteith left the band and new members Nico Rose and Raina Mullen (who sings lead on the title track) joined up.

The ‘60s and early ‘70s live in the music of The Heavy Heavy, the Brighton, England duo of Will Turner and Georgie Fuller, whose songs stand on their own while being unashamed for their affections for counterculture-era rock sounds.

The band that previously recorded a psychedelic version of Father John Misty’s “Real Love Baby” plays Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia on Thursday.

JD McPherson’s most recent album of rockabilly and old school R&B influenced originals was last year’s Nite Owls. Hopefully, the Oklahoma singer-guitarist will dip into his entire discography, but his show Thursday night at Arden Gild Hall in Wilmington is a “A Rock ’N’ Roll Christmas Tour” stop centered on the songs on his 2017 album Socks.

King Mala is Los Angeles alt-pop artist Areli Lopez, the El Paso native who’s touring behind her Billie Eiish-ish moody full length debut And You Who Drowned in the Grief of a Golden Thing. She’s at Nikki Lopez on South Street with Dezi opening.

If Steve Wynn isn’t touring doing solo shows, or playing with indie supergroups Gutterball and the Baseball Project (the latter with whom he was in Phillly in September), he’s on the road with the Dream Syndicate, the band that emerged from the 1980s Los Angeles psychedelic rock scene known as the Paisley Underground.

The band’s 1984 album Medicine Show mixed neo-noir mystery and Southern literary flair on epic guitar tracks like “John Coltrane Stereo Blues.” They’ll open with a set that surveys their career before playing Medicine Show in its entirety at Johnny Brenda’s on Friday.

Rhett Miller divides his time between the Old ‘97s and his solo career. His ninth Rhett Miller album is the new A lifetime of riding by night, which is a stripped down affair which was recorded before (successful) vocal surgery and captures him in a reflective, philosophical mood. He plays Free at Noon at Ardmore Music Hall on Friday, then heads down the road to play 118 North in Wayne that night.

Philly “apocolectric” folk-rock quarter Bums in the Attic celebrate the release of their The Denouement EP at Dawson Street Pub on Friday, with Ms. J & the Cresson Street Band and Anthony Baldini

Philly pop-punkers the Starting Line — originally from Churchville in Bucks County — have released only three albums in the initial burst of activity that began with their 2002 release Say It like You Mean It.

The band went on hiatus in 2008, but has regrouped for several tours throughout the years and got a boost in the pop cultural consciousness in 2024 when Taylor Swift name checked them in “The Black Dog” from The Tortured Poets Department. Now they’re back in earnest with Eternal Youth, their first album in 18 years, and shows at the Fillmore on Friday and Saturday.

Jon Langford & Sally Timms of the Mekons return to the charming confines of Harmonie Hall in Manayunk on Saturday. Expect a survey from the forty plus year career of the Leeds, England-born country-punk pioneers featuring the divine voiced Timms and offhand brilliance of the prolific Langford, who will be coming back to Philly together with the full-sized Mekons at the Latvian Society in June.

Algernon Cadwallader hail from Yardley in Bucks County. But in a world of inscrutable micro-genres, they’re often labeled a “Midwest emo” band. After going their separate ways after their 2011 album Parrot Flies, the band that includes singer Peter Helmis and guitarist and Headroom Studio owner Joe Reinhart (also a member of Hop Along) got back together in 2022. Trying Not To Have A Thought, their first album in 14 years, came out in September, and they’re playing a hometown show at Union Transfer on Saturday, with Gladie and Snoozer opening.

Mgk isn’t just shorthand for Philly classic rock radio station WMGK-FM (102.9). It’s now the stage name of the artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly, who officially ditched his previous moniker in 2024 to disassociate himself from gun violence.

The rapper and singer is touring behind his new album Lost Americana, which was released in June accompanied by a trailer narrated by none other than Bob Dylan, who is apparently his biggest fan. “From the glow of neon diners to the rumble of the motorcycles,” Dylan said. “This is music that celebrates the beauty found in the in-between spaces. Where the past is reimagined, and the future is forged on your own terms.” The Lost Americana tour comes to Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Philly indie songwriter Greg Mendez is playing one more show in the super intimate side chapel of the First Unitarian Church on Monday. This Mendez and Friends show features guest Amelia Cry Till I Die, Mary St. Mary and Shannen Moser singing traditional folk ballads. Most likely they will be making beautiful music together.

On Monday, it’s the Jingle Ball. This year’s iHeart Radio package tour of hitmakers at Xfinity Mobile Arena runs alphabetically from AJR to Zara Larsson. The show presented by Q102 — Philly station WIOQ-FM (102.1) — serves up a crash course in contemporary pop with Alex Warren, BigXthaPlug, Laufey, Monsta X, Miles Smith and Raven Lenae, plus a KPop Demon Hunters singalong.