5 rock shows to see in Las Vegas this weekend

Cold Cave

Cold Cave is here to slam the coffin lid shut on any lingering holiday mirth. The nom de plume of former hardcore screamer Wesley Eisold, who used to front ragers Give Up the Ghost, Some Girls and others, Cold Cave finds Eisold trading his throat-shredding shriek for a disaffected croon reminiscent of The Cure’s Robert Smith. Cold Cave’s chill is heightened by turgid drum-machine beats and icy synth, a suitably enervating backdrop for sentiments like “People Are Poison” and “I’ve Seen the Future, and It’s No Place for Me,” song titles that pretty much say it all. See Cold Cave at 8 p.m. Thursday at The Bunkhouse Saloon. Tickets are $15; call 702-982-1764.

Vain

Lost in the fog of Aquanet that was the ’80s hair metal scene were Bay Area scuzz-glam rockers Vain, whose aptly titled 1989 debut, “No Respect,” foretold their experiences in the music industry. No, they never really broke out and found the success that their hard-edged, underrated first record suggested they might achieve, but seriously, they should have been way bigger than Trixter, at least. See Vain at 9 p.m. Saturday at Count’s Vamp’d. Tickets are $10; call 702-220-8849.

Kane Brown

Kane Brown’s proclaimed himself to be the Justin Bieber of country, which means what exactly? That he gets speeding tickets in a gun rack-equipped Ford F-150 as opposed to a Ferrari? Well, the 23-year-old does have the tats, the poster-boy looks and, most telling, the pronounced pop leanings going for him, so there’s that. See for yourself how he measures up to the Biebs at 6 p.m. Thursday at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Tickets are $22; call 702-632-7600.

The Expendables

Yeah, winter is just setting in, but it’s always summer when The Expendables hit town — at least it feels like it, with the band’s alternately chilled-out and revved-up reggae rock as sun-baked and mood enhancing as a day at the beach, sans the sand in your Speedo. See them at 7 p.m. Friday at Brooklyn Bowl at The Linq. Tickets are $18; call 702-862-2695.

Voodoo Glow Skulls

Ska punk is in the Voodoo Glow Skulls’ blood, blood that the core of the band shares: The group was formed by brothers Eddie, Frank and Jorge Casillas, who’ve kept the Glow Skulls running for close to three decades now despite numerous lineup changes. Hey, they titled their sixth record “Steady as She Goes” for a reason. See them at 8 p.m. Saturday at Backstage Bar & Billiards. Ticket are $16 in advance, $20 day of show; call 702-382-2227.