The Smith Westerns started out on the storied HoZac Records, home of every idiosyncratically recorded rock & roll band worth its limited-edition colored vinyl, and from there, they’ve headed right for the top of the pops. This is blown-out bubblegum like what the Sweet used for A-sides and B-sides, like what Marc Bolan rode right into eternal legend, like what Milk ‘n’ Cookies made for all the girls in the world, or like Gary Glitter was before that criminal nastiness came to light—in other words, it’s the kind of music people talk about when they say rock & roll will never die. If you ever got your braces tangled during an adolescent kiss, well, that’s the kind of problem the Smith Westerns love to encourage. Cute—and they know it, too.
Sat., Feb. 12, 9 p.m., 2011
