O'Death, Rock Plaza Central, Peter and the Wolf

Toronto, Canada's Rock Plaza Central quickly endeared themselves to the crowds at this year's SXSW, flooring music writers and college kids alike with the triumphant post-Mangum folk anthems of their strangely moving sophomore record, Are We Not Horses. And while an orchestral folk concept album about robotic horses might sound horribly pretentious on paper, we promise you'll get caught up in the spirit of songs like "My Children, Be Joyful," which will surely fill the meager space of the Cavern with tumbling mountains of blaring trumpet and stately violin. Headliner O'Death deals in a similar strain of folk music, channeling the more carnivalesque work of Tom Waits as lead singer Greg Jamie barks, grunts and screams over the feverish drumming, whining fiddles and aggressively plucked banjo of their recently reissued debut, Head Home.