Breaking Benjamin, Wet Leg, Garbage among area concert highlights [Seven in Seven]

Welcome to Seven in Seven, where we look at shows coming to the region over the next week. As always, whether your musical tastes are rock ’n’ roll, jazz, heavy metal, R&B, singer-songwriter or indie, there will always be something to check out. Here are seven of the best on the docket for the week of Sept. 12.

Hunx and His Punx — Friday at First Unitarian Church

When Hunx and His Punx returned from hiatus in 2019, it seemed like teenage dreams were coming true as they started recording their first album since 2013. They never would have guessed that it would end up taking five years to complete, and that they would soon be going through some very brutal times, punctuated by the tragic death of a close friend, a global pandemic, and being impacted by one of California’s worst wildfires in history. Last month, the band officially released their first album in 12 years, “Walk Out on This World.” It’s their first with Get Better Records, a label the band is excited to be working with due to their focus on queer and trans artists, especially as Hunx and His Punx have often been associated with the queer core, punk, and garage rock music worlds.

Royel Otis — Friday at Franklin Music Hall

Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic’s chance meeting feels almost destined. They were both working at bars and cafes in the same neighborhood — the beachside town of Bondi in their native Australia — before getting together one day in 2019 with their guitars and some song sketches. And without any expectations, they soon spotted it: an unspoken chemistry that resulted in effortless rock wonders, new tunes that somehow seemed as if they’d always existed. The rest of the world would soon follow suit when the duo became true breakout acts both online and in rock clubs alike, with early charmers such as “Oysters in My Pocket” and “Sofa King” drawing in fans. Riding on their musical chemistry, the pair has cemented their status as one of the most effortless and endearing indie rock bands to emerge this decade.

Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace — Friday at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain

Multi-platinum rock bands Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace stop in Scranton Friday as part of a co-headline tour across the U.S., with the former closing each night. Known for their explosive live shows and chart-topping hits, both bands have defined the sound of 21st-century hard rock. Breaking Benjamin has amassed an impressive string of mainstream rock radio hits and a devoted fanbase, while Three Days Grace, with 19 No. 1 songs at rock radio, continues to build on their legacy as one of rock’s most successful bands, with over a billion streams globally. Upon releasing their first single in five years, Breaking Benjamin’s single “Awaken” quickly shot to the top of the Rock Digital Songs charts and landed in the Top 20 on multiple additional Billboard charts. And with Adam Gontier’s official homecoming to Three Days Grace, along with Matt Walst amid their first live performances as co-vocalists, the pure magic in the arenas only reinforces this next era of the group as seemingly the best one yet.

Wolf Alice — Monday at Union Transfer

Wolf Alice has come a long way since the North London quartet first emerged in 2013 as a young band holding a mirror up to their own emerging generation. With their fourth album, “The Clearing,” finding them at the peak of their powers, they have grown into a band of generational importance. While the bruised euphoria of their debut “My Love Is Cool,” which featured the Grammy-nominated “Moaning Lisa Smile,” both captured and perfectly soundtracked the experience of youth first cutting their musical teeth, 2018’s follow up “Visions of a Life cemented their rise with a Mercury Music Prize, before the precious hurt of 2022’s No. 1 album, “Blue Weekend,” and its resultant Brit Award for Best Group.

Wet Leg — Monday at Franklin Music Hall

As one of the most buzzed about indie rock bands in recent memory, British export Wet Leg has developed into a taut, caustic live operation that made good on their debut’s success, No. 1 chart placements at home and abroad, three Grammys, two BRIT Awards, and over half a billion streams. This summer, they released “Moisturizer,” an LP defined by its sheer exuberance and lead singer Rhian Teasdale finding the process empowering. As a whole, the record is largely about being, as the band exclaims on “Pond Song,” so “Deep! In! Love!!!!”

Radio Free Alice — Tuesday at Kung Fu Necktie

Formed in Sydney, Australia, in 2020 before making the move to Melbourne, Radio Free continue to make their mark with their wildly consistent output and vital live performances. Their 2023 debut self-titled EP was nominated for Best Independent Punk Album or EP at the AIR Awards and quickly followed up with “Polyester” the next year. They’ve played countless festivals across Australia and Europe, with their Stateside debut at SXSW earlier this year, as the “Polyester” EP has hit over 2.5 million streams across its four tracks on Spotify alone since its release, with support and acclaim from radio in Australia and the UK.

Alternative rock outfit Garbage takes the stage at Franklin Music Hall on Tuesday. (Joseph Cultice)

Garbage — Tuesday at Franklin Music Hall

For over 30 years, Garbage’s powerful live show has captivated audiences and continues to inspire worldwide adoration. “The Happy Endings Tour” marks the legendary alternative rock outfit’s first extensive headline run in the U.S. in almost 10 years, and it comes in support of the group’s latest effort, “Let All That We Imagine Be the Light,” released at the end of May. According to frontwoman Shirley Manson, the new album was forged out of the need to find an uplifting thread amidst the swell of chaos and extraordinary upheaval in the world.