If Elizabeth and the Catapult hit its debut a touch sooner—and landed an iPod commercial, of course—it’d be Elizabeth Ziman, and not Leslie Fiest, singing with Tweedy on the new Wilco album. Instead, Ziman’s folksy, jazzy chamber-pop trio has built a loyal downtown following in New York, where Ziman grew up, and packed the Red and the Black last month at the start of the Taller Children tour. That titular track got some attention from NPR and other outlets for its references to the economic crisis (adults acting like selfish children, see?). It’s a fun song, if a bit cute. Others on the album (“Momma’s Boy,” “Race You,” a nice reimagining of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows,” and the charged ballad “Apathy”) clearly outshine it. Ziman’s got the pipes and pop sensibility to give the band staying power. See them now, when you can still get to the bar and back to your spot without resorting to a grade-school fistfight.

ELIZABETH AND THE CATAPULT PERFORMS WITH GREG LASWELL AND ROSI GOLAN at 9 p.m. at THE ROCK AND ROLL HOTEL, 1353 H ST. NE. $10.