July 14-20, 2005

musicpicks

Akron/Family

ROCK/POP

Sneaky bastards, these four Brooklyn boys are. They'll start a song by trading thought bubbles over acoustic guitars, with nothing but the creaky crack of rocking chairs and floorboards as accompaniment, and then, just when you're about to fall prey to their Iron & Wine lullaby — Crash! Bang! Cacophony! One dude's smashing plates and pounding out percussion patterns with silverware like the Spoonman from that stupid Soundgarden video. Another is frantically pressing presets on a frayed keyboard, forcing out concentrated bursts of noise like a peanut brittle can full of spring-loaded snakes. A third drops his acoustic and picks up an electric; he's now dueling the keyboard with his own sine waves of feedback. A fourth is simply laughing maniacally, fully aware of the trick the four have just played with our ears. And that's just one song. The rest of their self-titled Young God label debut is just as delightfully confusing. Considering they switch instruments like Fleetwood Mac traded lovers, seeing the songs unfold live should be — what's the word? Oh, yeah — amazing.

Sun., July 17, 8 p.m., $10, with Sir Richard Bishop and The Wrists and Pistols, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888, www.thekhyber.com.

—Andrew Parks