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MARCH 14
With all the music magazines debating whether electronica is the new-school science, they have completely missed out on the scene that is sweeping the land like a wind storm on the Oklahoma plains: the New Dust. In addition to the indie acceptance of country crooners Iris DeMent and Gillian Welch, aw-shucks bands like Wilco, Son Volt, the Jayhawks, and Scud Mountain Boys are getting ink in place of former roots royals—and current breakbeat disciples—Sheryl Crow and John Mellencamp. On Massachusetts, the Scuds’ recipe includes a gram of Parsons (“Van Drunk”), an ounce of Eagles (“Knievel”), and more than a little pinch of McCartney (“Grudge ****”). Singer/songwriter Joe Pernice’s lightly aching voice whispers tales of “how soon it all fades away,” as the band floats along with a reserve that doesn’t inject the song’s familiar subject matter with too much import. (As a more contemporary influence, Mark Eitzel, once sang, “Day to day life shouldn’t be what it’s all about/Day to day life is something we all know too much about.”) Scud Mountain Boys open for fellow tunesmith Vic Chesnutt, fresh from his role in the insufferably mawkish Sling Blade, at 8 p.m. at the Bayou, 3135 K St. NW. $9. (202) 333-2897. (Christopher Porter)