MONDAY

One of the classic physical-comedy bits in the Dunlap-family repertoire is the “Am I Boring You?” routine. The joker takes the second knuckle of the middle finger and burrows it into the victim, preferably on the upper arm or between the first and second ribs. While twisting the knuckle, the perpetrator asks, “Am I boring you? Get it?” It never fails to get a laugh, although that may be because it’s the only way to save one’s side from being corkscrewed any further. So it is with fond memories of wordplay and pain that I say that I like boring rock ’n’ roll. And no one has bored me so sweetly over the years as Chris Brokaw. First of all, there is the matter of sharing his surname with a pleasantly humdrum, Midwestern news anchor. Chris Brokaw was also the drummer for slo-core giants Codeine, a glacially paced percussion gig that must have been the indie-rock equivalent of being the Maytag repairman. Since then, he has had stints playing guitar in Come, Pullman, and Consonant, the underrated side project of Mission of Burma’s Clint Conley. Brokaw even played on an Evan Dando solo record called…wait for it…Baby I’m Bored. He’s gone all singer-songwriter now, and his newest release, Incredible Love, is a prime example of his very palatable, milk-and-water rock. I hope Brokaw doesn’t mind getting ribbed for not being the most exciting guy in music, because he’s brought me a lot of low-key pleasure throughout his career. Hell, if all rockers were such dramatic fuckups as Pete Doherty or Axl Rose, it’d be kinda boring. Brokaw plays with the Apes, Modey Lemon, and Big Bear at 8:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $7. (202) 783-3933. (David Dunlap Jr.)