What To Do On Tuesday, February 21.

Pound The Pavement With Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks.

Hope you used Monday to rest up for tonight, because nearly every bar in town is throwing down serious Mardi Gras-themed food and drink specials. And, after you've filled up on hurricanes and crawdads, be sure to head to the Granada to catch a living alt-rock legend. Or you can head downtown to celebrate the release of Dallas trio Nervous Curtains' latest record.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at Granada Theater
When tracing alternative music back to its roots, the road always leads back to Pavement and/or The Pixies. When Pavement called it quits in '99, frontman Stephen Malkmus continued putting out music with his new backing band the Jicks to varied critical response. But we dig it. Aside from being one of our favorite albums of 2011, Mirror Traffic was quite possibly the most Pavement-like record Malkmus has written in the past decade.

Indian Jewelry, El Paso Hot Button and Nervous Curtains at City Tavern
Nervous Curtains' latest offering of moody, post-punk synth rock, Fake Infinity, will be released tonight on a fitting bill featuring like-minded regional talent in Houston noise-rockers Indian Jewelry and Oklahoma no-wavers El Paso Hot Button.

Mardi Gras at Capitol Pub with the King Bucks
Last weekend, the local honky-tonkers spent two nights at Adair's recording their first-ever live CD. About time too, because as polished and high-gloss as their two studio albums sound, their real bread and butter is the whiskey-fueled rowdiness of their live shows and their power to give any club the feel of a smoke-filled dive. Music starts at 9 p.m.

12th Planet at Trees
No other genre of music was the subject of more debate in '11 than dubstep. 12th Planet, one of the preeminent producers in the ever-polarizing genre, will be doing his thing at Trees tonight. And you can bet the bass will sound extra womp-womp-wompy on Trees' massive system, one of the best in town.

Mardi Gras specials at Aw Shucks
It wouldn't feel like a real Mardi Gras celebration unless crawfish were involved. The always tasty Aw Shucks spot (and their Big Shucks location, too) are serving up big specials on mudbugs by the pound. Wash them down with discounted margaritas.