24

SUNDAY

Apparently, now that I’m getting older, I am becoming wiser, more accepting and open to expressions of creativity that would previously have elicited from me nothing more than a snotty little sniff and a rapid dismissal. The flip side of that particular coin is that maybe I’m just lowering my musical standards with each passing yearĀ—making open-mindedness more of a defeat than the expansion of consciousness I’d like to think it is. In any case, the Lucksmiths have cheerfully and politely strummed their way into my good graces. Since 1993, the Australian pop trio has been crafting songs that possess a uniquely old-fashioned, charming aggregation of classic pop sensibility and simple, honest emotion. At times, the Lucksmiths have so thoroughly nailed the feel and total lack of pretension of mid-’60s pop that they almost remind me of the Monkees or Herman’s Hermits. They play with True Love Always at 2 p.m. at Now! Music and Fashion, 3100 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington. Free. (703) 528-9059. (Arika Casebolt)