Quief Quota

While you can't always judge an album (or book) by its cover, sometimes the liner notes give you a pretty clear impression of the music inside. Quief Quota's portrait features the band members in tighty whities being fed grapes, bananas and spaghetti by toga-clad ladies. It is a perfect complement to the songs on the disc — a sound that is classic in form but skewered with perversity and puerile humor. While the band is an offshoot of the beloved abrasive noise collective Skarekrau Radio, Quief Quota sticks to straight-ahead pop-song structures and a lo-fi aesthetic that is paired with dum-dum lyrics and charmingly off-key vocals.

The album, recorded (but definitely not produced) by Jason Hutto, never lingers too long — there are nineteen songs in 38 minutes, and each one drawing from a different rock & roll touchstone. "Stretchin' Out Your Pants" comes off like one of Tom Waits' clang-boom-steam dirges, and the next track, "Saturday Afternoon," channels both the Dead Milkmen and the B-52s with zippy enthusiasm. The winner of the bunch is the dub/jam band amalgamation "Pop's Rocks," which exhorts the listener to not pass out at the famed Sauget, Illinois, venue. It's sound advice from a troupe of unhinged dilettantes.

— Christian Schaeffer

9 p.m. Monday, November 5. CBGB, 3163 South Grand Boulevard. Free. No phone. Want your CD to be considered for a review in this space? Send music c/o The Riverfront Times, Attn: Homespun, 6358 Delmar Boulevard, Suite 200, St. Louis, MO 63130. Email music@riverfronttimes.com for more information.