Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band

Thu., May 22, 8 p.m., $12, with Vic Chesnutt, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 866-468-7619, r5productions.com.

by M.J. Fine

rock

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Trembling strings and slowly bashed drums, loping guitar and an agitated Canadian recounting the sins of bankers and policemen. With Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, the ingredients are fairly standard. In any given movement, the question's not what goes into the pie but whether it's meant to be shared among friends or smashed in some smug authoritarian's face. The Montreal collective's latest record, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons (Constellation) is heavy on crust, but doesn't forgo the fruit filling. "The hangman's got a hard-on, the pretty minstrels sway," Efrim Menuck yelps on the title track. "The pundit reeks of coffin/ The banker rapes a maid." Once you've endured Menuck's moaning, his abrasive guitar feels downright soothing. "BlindBlindBlind" builds from uncertain minimalism to transcendent cacophony, then caps the hourlong disc with an a cappella choir swooning "some hearts are true." Romance may be just a pie in the sky, but Silver Mt. Zion's full-throated endorsement of hard-won love won't make you gag.

Thu., May 22, 8 p.m., $12, with Vic Chesnutt, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 866-468-7619, r5productions.com.