The Shaky Hands

9 p.m. Wednesday, October 14. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

Oct 7, 2009 at 4:00 am

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If Mott the Hoople and Dr. Dog had a baby, it would be called Tom the Poodle, and it would sound like the Shaky Hands. The Portland band's no-frills, all-boogie presentation reclaims the spirit of the blues-jamming early '70s — without relying on girl jeans and mustaches. On the group's fourth album (second on Kill Rock Stars), Let It Die, the fidelity is low, and the swagger is high, making gems such as the groovy "Caught in the Storm" and deliriously catchy, Petty-could've-written-that "Allison and the Ancient Eyes" sound more like lost gold than obscure indie-rock trinkets. Star of the party is singer, songwriter and guitarist Nick Delffs, whose scruffy, pinched-nasal bleat seems calibrated by nature to blare out of a neighborhood-bar jukebox on a summer night.