Legendary UK punks The Subhumans tore up The Club @ Water Street Wednesday, September 26, with a loud, fast, sweaty set. All the haircuts were there. The sound was crisp and in your face, and though "Mickey Mouse Is Dead" didn't get played (dammit) the show was great. Lead singer Dick paced, raged, seethed, and shouted looking like he had taken a coupla laps in a Maytag. But I gotta tell ya, show openers World/Inferno Friendship Society were absolutely brilliant. It was a full-blown punk rock cabaret with multiple percussionists, marimba, piano, and horns, along with the more conventional rock utensils. Singer/ringleader Jack Terricloth barked and raved like a shroud tailor on a meth jag. The band mixed klezmer, vaudeville, apocalyptic jazz, and lyrical madness a la Waits. It was really, really cool and not unlike our own Lobster Quadrille.

Southern Culture On The Skids played all its hits (including a handful off the brilliant new "Countrypolitan Favorites") for the kids packed like lemmings into the shiny Bug Jar Thursday night. Guitarist Rick Miller isn't really an innovator, but more of a perpetuator. He mixes every guitar style and tone I love out of old off-brand guitars and an unassuming pile of junk, cords, and stomp boxes. The man puts the bang and clang back in twang. And let's not forget the evening's visual highlight: The Isotopes' Busty Sinclair just a twistin' and gyratin' while distributing delicious fried chicken to the hungry and the faithful. These are two of my favorite things. Well three if you count each... well... never mind.

In the never-ending battle to get people into clubs before midnight, The Atomic Swindlers played a 7 p.m. show last Friday at High Fidelity. But alas, it was a little to close to dinner. Despite the light crowd and the lingering daylight, the band delivered its trademark arena sound all big and beautiful. There's two more of my favorite things.