ROYAL BANGS
8 p.m., Sticky Fingerz. $7.
These rockers from Knoxville know how to get experimental. Royal Bangs mixes fuzzboxed, synthesized, highly percussive instrumentation with spacey, warped vocals — a combination that would’ve been right at home in the mid-’80s. But beneath the strange layering lies quality songwriting and smart lyrics, as is evident on tunes such as “Brainbow” and “Maniverse,” where we’re coached: “If you love something you should fight for it, if it fights you back you should conquer it, if it conquers you, you should crawl right back, but at least you tried to get your love back.” What may separate this crew from others of similar ilk is a jovial approach to being raucous while simultaneously groovy. Currently Royal Bangs has two CDs under its belt, “Let It Beep,” and “We Breed Champions.”