Live! Tonight! Bugs and Rats, Chop Chop, UV Protection

Bugs and Rats’ recently released debut album, Smart as a Whip (NotCommon), is a smorgasbord of sludge-slathered riffs, noise-stained guitar leads, guttural screams, and drum abuse that would make In Utero-era Kurt Cobain proud. The Quincy trio, who met as teenagers and bonded over Black Flag and airbrush propellant fumes, make the nastiest, scummiest racket this side of Flipper, and live they look and sound as though they could fall apart at any second. Fortunately, they’ve got a drummer skilled enough to make sure they don’t. Along with Ricky Fitts, Mustangs & Madras, and the Taste of Silver, they’re at the Abbey Lounge, 3 Beacon St, Somerville 617.441.9631.

LISTEN: Bugs and Rats, "The S.A.N.T.A. Took My Baby Away" (mp3)
LISTEN: Bugs and Rats, "Misogynistic Drag Queen," (mp3) 



It apparently didn’t take long for singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Catherine Cavanagh to notice that the two other women she’d found to collaborate with — keyboardist Christy Cheng and bassist Carla Caruzzo — all had something in common with her. Thus a name: the Chop Chop. Along with mimicking the double-“C” monikers of each member, it’s also not a bad way of describing the electro-organic sound of the band, who just released their self-titled debut on the local Archenemy label. The big CD release show was back in December, but Chop Chop should still be in celebratory mode when they headline the Milky Way, 405 Centre St, Jamaica Plain 617.524.3740.

LISTEN: (We swear they had an mp3 of "Mix Tape" up a minute ago: all the sudden they're being gay and stream-onlying at myspace. Whatever.) 



Last not least-ish: U.V. Protection celebrate the release of the long-awaited vinyl version of Consumer Material (Honeypump) along with stellar local guy-girl indie-space rockers Eyes Like Knives and two bands from DC, Cataract Camp and the Cassettes at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston 617.734.4502.

LISTEN: U.V. Protection, "U.V. Protection Theme" (mp3)