Hooray for you, bands who suck but are a lot of fun. And way to go, all you bands who are good but don't know how to have a good time. I will not be going to your shows. Most of the time, if I'm gonna bike my ass downtown in the dead of winter or hell of summer, it'll be to see a rock band both fun and good. Like, simultaneously. It's an elusive formula, and few have it down like This Radiant Boy, who've sadly decided to call it quits after a decade of sneaky, freaky indie rock. Okay, truth is I thought they sucked the first time I saw them. They might've been drunk. Maybe we all were. And it was at Doc Watson's, so everybody felt a little trapped. Anyway, by the time I heard 2004's Shakedown at the Russian Disco EP, I was hooked. The scrappy little crumb-crushers had tightened into a formidable pop ensemble, with Mike Guggino's catchy, unknowable choruses leading the charge. Their shows became reliably infectious (and the costumes didn't hurt). But now, with grad school and other bands (Rarebirds, Barking Spiders, Run Runner and Happy Accident) taking up the TRBers time plus Guggino heading to New York City for love the band decided the time was right to call it quits. "It's safe to say though that the members of TRB will continue to make music with one another, under different monikers, in a variety of subgenres of indie rock, for the foreseeable future," assures drummer Bucky Lang. Look for a final LP, possibly titled Feelin' It on a Motorcycle, to get released soon, possibly digitally. It will be both fun and good.
Sat., Aug. 19, 9 p.m., $8, with Like A Fox and The Ships, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888, www.thekhyber.com.