They used to call it college rock, and now that everyone’s sick of calling it indie or emo or, God forbid, alternative, maybe we ought to go back to calling it college rock again. Especially since so much of it seems to be going back to colleges. Rainer Maria, whose buzzed-about A Better Version of Me (Polyvinyl), is out this week, make their only area appearance at Boston University’s George Sherman Union (353-2921) on Friday with Engine Down, Faraquet, and the Great Collector. Known for her work with the Crabs, the Lookers, and Cadallaca, Sarah Dougher has an enchanting second solo disc — Walls Ablaze (Mr. Lady) — and a tour that stops at AS220 (401-831-9327) in Providence tonight (January 25) with Unrest/Air Miami main man Mark Robinson; at Simmons College’s Alumnae Hall (598-1046 extension 1763) on Friday with the Operators and the Kitty Kill; and at the Abbey Lounge (441-9631) in Somerville on Saturday with the Operators and Mishima. Robinson is also on a bill with Helium’s Mary Timony and the indie country-pop group Starhustler at the Middle East (864-EAST) in Cambridge on Saturday.

Atom and His Package, the Philadelphia smart-aleck lo-fi punk, brings his deliciously smarmy sequencer pop to the Massachusetts College of Art’s North Building, Room 175 (879-7000) on Friday; to the Old Store (413-283-7371) in Palmer on Saturday; and to Eclectic at Wesleyan College (860-685-2000) in Middletown, Connecticut, on Sunday. And the Dismemberment Plan, whose disembodied falsetto vocals and proggish art-rock arrangements continue to distinguish them from the rest of the post-emo pack, are at the Tune Inn (203-772-4310) in New Haven tonight (January 25) and downstairs at the Middle East with Karate and Crack Torch on Friday. Meanwhile, upstairs at the Middle East on Friday, Russell Simins of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion fame does his solo thing, a grab bag of bluesy soul, pomo-funk, and straight-up rawk in the prized Grand Royal metro-boutique tradition. Simins isn’t exactly a one-man-band, but Euphone is — or at least it was when drummer Ryan Rapsys took on that name for his solo recordings in the mid ’90s. Euphone has since expanded to a two-piece drum and bass thing, but the Lonesome Organist — with whom Euphone are currently on tour — keeps alive the vaudvillean spirit of one-man-banditry with toy-piano/blues-guitar/junky-drum-kit extrapolations. Catch ’em both at T.T. the Bear’s Place (492-BEAR) in Cambridge on Tuesday and at AS220 on Wednesday.

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Quiet Riot play the Station (401-823-4660) in Warwick, Rhode Island, tonight (January 25). You’ve been warned.