By way of the Great White North, the city that never sleeps and the state you'd be advised not to mess with comes an unusual all-ages Friday night Roustabout! at the Tall Shiva Hookah Lounge, 224 W. College Ave.

Psychedelic-rocking Canucks The High Dials, the grimy tunes of Texan-bred The Black Angels and Canadian-export-turned-New-York-tunesmith Steve Shiffman and his Land of No will make the stomp down to the basement of the downtown smoke shop for a night of top-shelf indie rock.

Much has changed for The High Dials since their last trip to State College more than a year ago. The summer release of the band's sophomore LP, War of the Wakening Phantoms, has seen the band's popularity explode both in their native Canada and here in the States.

As High Dials singer/songwriter Trevor Anderson tells it, the success of Phantoms came out of the creative process that went into its inception.

"This is a band that conceives songs as a whole album," Anderson said. "I don't know if other bands really think that way anymore with the whole iPod culture, singles culture that we're in. But at least in my mind, I had a certain vision of the atmosphere and the mood of this album from the start."

Roustabout! organizer Jeff Van Fossan said he'd been working for months to get The High Dials back to town because of popular demand. "They were easily the most talked about Roustabout! band last fall," Van Fossan said. "They just played for so damn long, they worked people into a frenzy, and then they pulled out the electric sitar, and that was just the end."

As Anderson said, it's not where you're from, it's what you're looking to accomplish. And The High Dials have set their sights pretty high.

"The bands, the pantheon of our '60s heroes, all their great albums were really eclectic," Anderson said. "And that's our blueprint. The great pop bands always survive, and that's what we wanna be: a great pop band with excellent songs."

Steve Shiffman will perform a set of his ramshackle, bluesy indie rock tonight. Though Shiffman records and travels with a loose-knit group of musicians called The Land of No, he's quick to point out the laxity of the band itself.

"When I was in Toronto, I was in a band [The Holy Ghost], which was a lot of fun," Shiffman said. "But once I moved down here, I just kinda wanted to do everything myself. So I guess this is sort of a band where people can be free to play or not play if they wanted."

Shiffman said the ever-changing makeup of his group has led to some of his most inspired musical moments.

"That's been the key for me," Shiffman said. "If you keep everything loose, then hopefully everybody will want to be around to help you out."

Also performing will be Austin, Texas, act The Black Angels. As Van Fossan said, it's not just the band's name that evokes a certain classic rock 'n' roll act with which most Roustabout! attendees will be familiar.

"They get their name from that Velvet Underground song ['The Black Angel's Death Song']," Van Fossan said. "I mean, their music type is called 'drone and roll,' which should give you some idea of what their thing is."

Whatever the vibe, Van Fossan made it clear that young and old, this may be the perfect show at the perfect spot.

"It's all ages, so everyone can see it," Van Fossan said. "Obviously. And the Tall Shiva seems like a good place for this kind of show."