Alien Crime Syndicate w/ Dead Low Tide, The Detachment Kit, 10 pm Sun, Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 E Sycamore St, Denton. $6. 940-387-7781.

It's the best of times for Metroplex music fans, as many of the bands playing at SXSW this weekend are stopping off here on their way south. Perhaps too many -- on Sunday alone we must choose among Seattle power pop (Alien Crime Syndicate at Rubber Gloves), L.A. funk (Particle at Club Dada), New Orleans rock (Supagroup at The Wreck Room), and metal from all over the country (various artists at Dreamworld).

How to choose from among so many worthy bands? Randomly. Here are a couple of arguments in favor of ... spin the wheel ... Alien Crime Syndicate.

1. See an arena-rock show without having to go to an arena. Frontman Joe Reinke, ex-ringleader of The Meices, is itching to play Reunion. To enhance Alien Crime Syndicate's surfer-space-stoner-power-pop, the band members set up their own beacons, strobes, and swirling penlights onstage. As the band rocks through its anthem-laden set, Reinke operates the light show from a foot pedal. For this, ACS has won "Best Low-Budget Light Show" honors from its local weekly.

2. Jump onto the Ozzy-renaissance bandwagon. ACS's role model for glitz, if not gore, is suddenly this season's It Boy. The high priest of headbangers is the star of MTV's newest reality show, The Osbournes; his latest studio album, Down to Earth, is heading toward platinum; four early albums are set for re-release in "Expanded Editions" this month. ACS's mocking metal anthem "Ozzy," which opens its new album, XL From Coast to Coast, pays homage to the former bat-biting Black Sabbath frontman. Sing along: "Please just lift up your hand if you like Ozzy or the Mštley Crüe." How can you resist?