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Dan DeLuca’s Mix Picks: Taylor Swift, Cactus Blossoms, Tank and the Bangas, DIIV, and Rhett Miller

Music Critic Dan DeLuca's picks of shows to see this week.

Tank and the Bangas performs at the Roots Picnic festival at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 01, 2019.
Tank and the Bangas performs at the Roots Picnic festival at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 01, 2019.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

Cactus Blossoms. Viewers of Ken Burns’ PBS series Country Music got a taste of the long tradition of sibling duos, from the Monroe, Louvin, and Everly Brothers. Cactus Blossoms’ Page Burkum and Jack Torrey don’t have the same last name but are brothers, and the harmony-singing sibs from whom they take most of their cues are the Everlys, adding just enough shadowy melancholy to make them a natural fit for Showtime’s recent reboot of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Because the Eagles are playing that night, this is a Sunday afternoon early show at Ardmore Music Hall.

Tank and the Bangas. The New Orleans musical troupe fronted by Tarriona “Tank” Bell found a national audience after winning the NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest, and have become a successful festival attraction since, playing both the Roots Picnic and Firefly Fest this past June. The ebullient, energetic band that draws from hip-hop, jazz, funk, pop and spoken word poetry released a middling new album this year in Green Balloon, but is at its best in live performance. Tuesday at the TLA.

» READ MORE: Tank and the Bangas treat Girls Rock Philly campers

Taylor Swift. Speaking of the Tiny Desk, NPR honcho Bob Boilen scored a major coup this week when a certain megastar dropped by his office to play stripped-down solo versions of songs from her new album Lover on acoustic guitar and piano, complete with origin stories as to how they came into being. Dunderheads who still — after seven albums — doubt Swift’s songwriting skills are advised to watch.

DIIV. Zachary Cole Smith makes music straight out of the early 1990s, a blurry, druggy shoegazesound that’s of a piece with bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Swervedriver. Diiv’s new Deceiver summons a grand guitar maelstrom that offers no happy endings but immerses the listener in a deliciously narcotic haze. With Chastity and Storefront Church. Wednesday at Underground Arts.

Rhett Miller. Busy man Rhett Miller’s most recent power pop solo album is The Messenger released in 2018, and he also put out a new collection with his raucous Americana band Old ‘97s Graveyard Whistling in 2017, and a holiday album last year. He also has a podcast, Wheels Off, and a children’s poetry book, No More Poems!, and is the rare solo troubadour who’s never dull while filling up a room with just the sound of his voice and guitar. With Cliff Hillis. Wednesday at City Winery Philadelphia.