“Oh Melania, save me,” pleads Sergio Dias, singer of the legendarily gleeful Brazilian band Os Mutantes. The group’s latest single, “Black and Gray,” is all glum. Apart from the mocking chorus (“Oh Ivanka, don’t break my heart”), the song is a dogged march through American anxieties, with verses that touch on Arlington Cemetery and Bashar al-Assad. The heavy song might come as a shock to fans who have road-tripped to Os Mutantes’ deceptively fun tunes. Since the 1960s, the band has shined an investigative light on politics in Brazil, earning the ire of the government over its musical activism in the ’70s, all while indulging in kaleidoscopic rock. The fact that Arnaldo Baptista, Rita Lee, and their cohort could strike fear in Brasília even as Dias set the standard for fuzz guitar was one of the defining achievements of the tropicália movement. Now, with that lineup long gone, Dias’ new work sounds more sober, cut from a deep Pink Floyd groove. Os Mutantes’ back catalog, though, shows how the resistance can come in any form, even with hoots and whistles and sonic Rio rock. If the Trump administration has drained Os Mutantes of any of its sunny disposition, add that to the long list of the White House’s egregious pop culture crimes. Read more>>> Os Mutantes perform at 7:30 p.m. at Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. $30. (202) 667-4490. blackcatdc.com. (Kriston Capps)
OH AND ALSO
Iconic folk rock duo Indigo Girls presents an evening of acoustic arrangements at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap. 8 p.m. at 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. $30–$60.
Author Caitlin Moran discusses her latest novel, How to Be Famous, about a teenager who enters the public eye and experiences the downsides of fame, at Politics and Prose at The Wharf. 7 p.m. at 70 District Square SW. Free.
The National Museum of American History opens Special Olympics at 50, a new exhibition chronicling the history of Special Olympics through the experiences of five individuals, including Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the organization. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Free.
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