Who’ll win the 2014 Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble? We’ll know on Friday after the three remaining bands rock out in the Rumble Finals at T.T. the Bear’s Place (and while the Information plays a closing guest set). My odd-on favorite remains Petty Morals, the spunky all-woman sextet that transcends its Go-Go’s-in-black vibe with its giddy love for synth-rock and punk-pop. But that’s also because the other two bands come off as high-testosterone blasters.  Wild card Await Rescue summons its thick, tuneful sound in a post-Soundgarden vein, distinguished by John Cutulle’s hoarse howl. And the Goddamn Draculas loudly won its semi-final night with streamlined muscle and a sense of humor, starting with monogrammed shirts that jointly spelled “We Came to Suck.” Still surprised that Tigerman WOAH! didn’t make the Final round, but that’s the Rumble. You never know who’ll triumph.

If you get shut out of the Rumble, move next door, where Mean Creek rocks the Middle East Downstairs, celebrating its new EP Local Losers, where singers Chris Keane and Aurore Ounjian crank their guitars like they’ve just gotten a fresh fix from their old Replacements albums.  Or step up to the Paradise Rock Club, where singer/songwriters Aimee Mann and Ted Leo merge their respective pop and punk instincts into the melodic crunch of their surprisingly simpatico band the Both, which also covers Mann’s old Rumble-winning band.

Grammy-winning composer Maria Schneider conjures long-form pieces that sonically recall some of fellow Midwesterner Pat Metheny’s in the way they sound both complex and natural. Except that Schneider gracefully brings them to life old-school with her longtime orchestra, which she’ll conduct in a Celebrity Series concert at the Berklee Performance Center on Saturday. She’s also a fierce protector of artist’s proprietary rights in the digital age, even fighting unauthorized use of her work on YouTube, though you can find some clips of Schneider’s group in action. You can also jump to my recent interview with Schneider here. In a similar sphere the same night, Mark Harvey also directs his Aardvark Jazz Orchestra in a free program at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium that includes official Jazz Week unity song “No Walls,” Sun Ra tribute “Spaceways” and the world premiere of “Commemoration (Boston 2013), an homage to victims and survivors of the Marathon tragedy.

Finally, for my Thursday throwback, I did mention the Replacements, and in honor of that band (without original drummer Chris Mars but with our Neighborhoods guitarist Dave Minehan aboard) playing the September edition of Boston Calling, here’s a roaring early clip from 1981.