The Wrens have been through a lot since rolling out of New Jersey 20 years ago. They were fired from an early residency as the house band for the ferry between Cape May, N.J.,/Lewes, Del., after playing the Pixies’ “Debaser.” They survived an ill-fated deal with a major record label. They went almost a decade without putting out a formal album. But then in 2003, they released the close-to-perfect The Meadowlands and made something of a comeback. Sure, they haven’t put out so much as an EP since, but as the Wrens’ music has always suggested, no cause is too small for celebration.

THE WRENS PERFORM AT 9 P.M. AT THE BLACK CAT, 1811 14TH ST. NW, $15. (202) 667-4490.