Pinetop Seven sifts country music through a sieve, letting the rhinestone dust and urban-cowboy particles drop through the mesh like so much trash. Sounding like a more somber Son Volt and a moodier Go-Betweens, and citing the influence of Charles Mingus’ densely arranged jazz and Béla Bartók’s classical folk interpretations as much as Merle Haggard, Pinetop Seven springs from the remarkably fertile cement of Chicago. Primary members Charles Kim (who also plays with avant-garde saxophonist Ken Vandermark) and Ryan Hembry are multi-instrumentalists (clarinet, marimba, rainstick, reed organ, melodica, and, er, nails), and Rigging the Toplights, Pinetop’s second full-length release, is defined by the rich array of sounds the band injects into its textured chamber-folk music. Pinetop Seven opens for Snowpony, which features ex-My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab-ers, though none of their previous bands’ talents, at 9:30 p.m. at the Black Cat, 1831 14th St. NW. $7. (202) 667-7960. (CP)