Rock/pop

The "bio" on their Web site reads like the index from some particularly dense chemical engineering manual, but People's pseudo-intellectualism comes off more cutesy than pretentious. Perhaps it's the childish line drawings that illustrate the site, or maybe it's just a carryover from the music itself. The drum/guitar duo mine the bubblegum-pop end of the experimental rock spectrum, like a child prodigy who can solve complex calculus but would rather play with dolls. Mary Halvorson (who exercises her serious skills with jazzman Anthony Braxton and her goofier pop side with Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsant) bangs on her guitar like the long-lost fourth Shaggs sister and sings with the exaggerated faux-operatic air of a little girl playing dress-up in front of her mirror. Storm and Stress' Kevin Shea, meanwhile, makes as much noise as possible, ending somewhere in between banging on pots and free-jazz ecstasy. Deceptively simple without being especially deceptive.

Sat., Sept. 3, 8 p.m., $5, with Wolf Vs., Stay Fucked and George Korein, Avant Gentlemen's Lodge, 4028 Filbert St., www.tonewplanet.com/agl.html.