13

wednesday

The members of Indian Jewelry don’t assemble songs as much as pile noise on noise. The noise can come from anywhere: the splatter of a rude drum machine, a creepy organ, static from an old hi-fi. Hailing from Houston, the trio arrives on the freak-folk scene as perverted cousins choosing to ignore more obvious finger-picking and Beach Boy–lovin’ influences for roots closer to home—namely their deranged forbearers, the Butthole Surfers. The band’s promo photos show its members as thrift-store fanatics on horseback with heads covered by Goodwill shawls. It’s an apt teaser for the band’s debut full-length, Invasive Exotics, a mesmerizing assault of sound, drone, and left-field sonics melted down into song. “Lesser Snake” and “Going South” beat you senseless with their gnarled screams and baked beats; the other 10 songs knock out whatever is left. You will feel Indian Jewelry’s brand of magick more than you will understand it when the band performs with the Psychic Ills at 9:30 p.m. at the Red and the Black, 1212 H St. NE. $8. (202) 399-3201. (Jason Cherkis)