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What makes garage rock band Garotas Suecas different from any other groups in love with mid-’60s three-chord fuzz guitar? These twentysomething Brazilians sing catchy melodies in Portuguese and add tropicalia and Stax-soul accents. On their debut album Escaldante Banda, they blend these styles but dodge cliché. “Tudo Bem” starts with Memphis horn lines and a rough-voiced lead over backing harmonies and bouncy organ. “Banho de Bucha” invokes the lilting pop-psych of Brazil’s Os Mutantes, and the band transcends the language barrier with ear-grabbing ooh-oohs and doo-doo-doos in “Nao Se Perca Por Ai.” They won’t have brass with them, but that didn’t stop an earlier sans-horns gig I caught from being a sweaty, twist-and-shout carousal.
GAROTAS SUECAS PERFORMS AT 10 P.M. AT U STREET MUSIC HALL, 1115 U ST. NW. (202) 588-1880.