It's Monday morning and the weekend is still with us — wasn't yours lovely? Ours too! Well, we're here bright and early to (hopefully) ease the weight of the workweek with a snapshot of a few options you can look forward to this Thursday {11/1} and Friday (11/2}.

Thursday: Sea Wolf and Great Wilderness at the Tractor Tavern

Sea Wolf first hit our radar back around 2007ish when KEXP blasted "You're a Wolf" into my heavy rotation, that and "Middle Distance Runner" off of Leaves in the River make up what SW's sound seems to encompass: indie-lite, a little dreamy; achy and pleasing. And after taking a pass at the first single from their new album Old World Romance, it seems as though the vibe is continuing to evolve beautifully — a little more punctuated, a little more weathered for the better:

The band is currently on the road with everyone's favorite local alt.orch-pop outfit Hey Marseilles, but they won't be playing this Friday's Tractor date — instead, our PDX pals Great Wilderness will be taking their place, and we highly recommend getting down there in time for their set. {tickets}

Friday: Barcelona at the Showbox

The newest Barcelona is a veritable goulash of a lot of things we like about a lot of other bands, interspersed with an incredibly distinct sound. Some of their older songs tend to have a bit too much of a Coldplay-esque edge, but if the new album is built around tracks like "Slipping Away," there appears to have been a fundamental shift toward The Good Shit: it's out-and-out sexy, with a solid backbone, impressive vocals, and an undeniable hip-shaking catch. Take a listen:

If you dig it, you can catch Barcelona playing the middle slot Friday night at the Showbox, a perfect time-window for stopping by to catch them while you're hopping from show to show! While it's fresh on your mind, head on over to the band's blog for the album to grab this track and put it on your next mix.

Happy Thursday Eve Eve Eve!