Also this issue: Ghost in the Machine Japanese psychedelia invades brains, raises spirits. -A.D. Amorosi Family Fugue Orchestra 2001 puts the Crumbs back together. -Peter Burwasser Originators of the Species The progenitors of progressive house sprout legs, go on tour. -Sean O’Neal The Gig Jon Langford -Paul Burress Jello Biafra -Patrick Rapa Ryan Adams -A.D. Amorosi The Blind Boys of Alabama/ The Dirty Dozen Brass Band -Sam Adams

October 3- 9, 2002

musicpicks

The Chameleons

The Psychedelic Furs without the pomp, Echo and the Bunnymen without the death wish, this Mancunian quartet released three albums of shimmering, swirling, swooning guitar pop before splintering in the mid-'80s, leaving fans to dye their hair black and wear out their videocassettes of Harold and Maude in their absence. When they re-formed two years ago, it was to little fanfare, but the acoustic retrospective Strip (Paradiso) and the full-force Why Call It Anything (Artful) mark them as a band that's lost little of their force, or their reason for existing. Despite The Pernice Brothers' canny cover of "Up the Down Escalator," it's tough these days to find rock bands who can wear their hearts on their sleeves without sounding like crybabies. Their music may be personal, but The Chameleons never make it sound like it's all about them.

Thu., Oct. 3, $15, The Pontiac Grille, 304 South St., 215-925-4053.

—Sam Adams