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As lead singer of the lurch-rock outfit Silverfish, Leslie Rankin bum-rushed the boys club of hard rock with her snotty lyrics and raspy, manly screaming. Resurfacing as Ruby on her debut, Salt Peter, Rankin has retained the sassy bons mots but also developed a melodic voice. Her new musical repertoire honors the tenets of triphop but eschews the fluff; minimalist beats allow space for Rankin’s diva voicings to shape the songs, while snaggletoothed guitar and keyboard slash in and out of the mix. “Hoops” contains a pitch-bent melody eerily reminiscent of Prince’s “Erotic City,” while the industrial grind of “Pine” harkens back to her Silverfish daze. Rankin’s lyrics generally take aim at piggish men, and sure enough, she almost pulls an Alanis on “Paraffin,” singing, “Now I smell like paraffin,” But the titular wax is generally odorless—at least at room temperature. (Now that is ironic, don’t you think?) We’ll just assume she heated it up. Schtum opens at 8:45 p.m. at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $8. (202) 393-0930. (Christopher Porter)