Despite its famous founders, Montreal’s Clues remains something of a mystery. After releasing its eponymous debut in May, the band still has no official Web site or (gasp!) MySpace page. Then again, ex-Unicorn Alden Penner and former Arcade Fire drummer Brendan Reed have been laying low since they assembled the band in 2007. Clues honed its manic-depressive agitprop in hometown test-runs, playing unadvertised shows in small venues. On Clues, the band’s sunny harmonies vie with shoegaze shredding in a race toward a hook. The band’s debut track “Perfect Fit” starts with an old-timey upbeat organ playing a spooky, Tim Burton-esque melody, then launches into a verse with lyrics befitting two indie behemoths who’ve decided to start afresh: “Little baby born out of fables/Into ships, into ships/Friends split.”

CLUES PERFORM AT 9:30 P.M. WITH JERUSALEM IN MY HEART, AUTHORIZATION, AND CANNOT BE STOPPED AT DC9, 1940 9TH ST. NW. $8–$10. (202) 483-5000.