Sound Bites

Wednesday

The Toasters — Saying The Toasters, the band formed in 1982 by British expat Rob “Bucket” Hingley, are responsible for bringing ska stateside isn’t much of an overstatement. Much of the credit (or blame — your call) for ska’s momentary ubiquity in the ’90s belongs to the long-running band and its brass-and-organ accented take on the genre. Indeed, the band owes a heavy debt to forbears The Specials and The English Beat — to say nothing of their Jamaican forbears — but The Toasters effectively imported the two-tone sound and aesthetic, opening the doors for a legion of followers. B. Reed
New Brookland Tavern: 7:30 p.m., $10; 791-4413, newbrooklandtavern.com.


Thursday

The Western Civilization — Houston’s The Western Civilization brings with it a metronomic hypnosis born of steady drum loops and simply constructed arrangements that open plenty of space for two- and three-part vocal counterpoints. The young quartet’s chamber-charm holds water, but the songs don’t vary much in structure or dynamic. Still, the band’s sound is full enough to allow for interesting lines to emerge with gracious subtlety. It’s enough to keep the songs moving fluidly, avoiding tedium and evolving an earnest appeal in the band’s few-frills approach to acoustic-based indie rock. B. Reed
The Whig: 7 p.m., free; 931-8852, thewhig.org.


Sunday

MC Chris — Lumped somewhat unfairly in the wave of nerd-core rappers, Brooklyn’s MC Chris turned small-scale notoriety (as a voice on Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force) into a cache of singles, including the Star Wars-referencing “Fette’s Vette” — hence the nerd-core associations. Mostly, though, MC Chris is a comic emcee, slinging his upper-register voice through a minefield of rhyming one-liners and energized beats. He’s funny, for sure, but he’s also a force to be reckoned with behind the mic, flowing with ease and geek-chic confidence as he covers topics as wide-ranging as sex-acts and cough-syrup inebriation. B. Reed
New Brookland Tavern: 7:30 p.m., $12 ($10 advance); 791-4413, newbrooklandtavern.com.

Tuesday

The Pink Spiders — “Little Razorblade,” from The Pink Spiders’ 2006 album, Teenage Graffiti — produced by The Cars’ Ric Ocasek, no less — is still the best example of the Nashville band’s occasionally brilliant blend of early-’80s power-pop and post-millennial pop-punk. Ascendant synths, mildly snotty vocals and thick walls of guitar, all soldered together with sudden vamps and effervescent energy, make the song a near-perfect chunk of bubblegum. Elsewhere, these elements don’t always seem to mesh as consistently, but at the moments when they do, The Pink Spiders pose like they could be the heir to The Cars throne. 
B. Reed
New Brookland Tavern: 7:30 p.m., $12 ($10 advance); 791-4413, newbrooklandtavern.com.

Free Times, 11/05/08