The Tricks play an album release show at White Water Tavern Thursday night.

  • The Tricks play an album release show at White Water Tavern Thursday night.

THE TRICKS
9:30 p.m. White Water Tavern. $5.

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This show is a release party for the debut from The Tricks, a relatively new local group made up of Gabe Smoller, Alexander Jones and Jason Griswold. According to the band’s presser, the trio “grew up on the sounds of Pixies, Pavement, Ween and Weezer.”

There’s definitely some Pavement influence audible on the record, especially on the shambling “Sorghum,” the acoustic-tinged “Chessmaster,” and album closer “Parachute,” all of which recall the quiet-loud dynamic that runs throughout “Wowee Zowee,” perhaps the weirdest and most underrated Pavement album.

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I also hear some traces of the rough-around-the-edges, pre-indie rock sounds of ’80s U.S. underground bands such as Squirrel Bait or The Embarrassment. “The Burglary” is a slice of unvarnished yet catchy pop punk that reminds me a bit of early stuff by The Cure. There’s an appealingly scrappy and youthful vibe to the album. It’s good stuff, and you can get it for $10 or the album and a T-shirt for $15.

Also performing are the folk-rockin’ multi-instrumentalists in Don’t Stop Please, the Conway-based six-piece that has a new album coming out later this summer called “Crowded Car.”

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After the jump, check out the track “The Burglary” by The Tricks.

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