"Margery," the psycho-shuffle opening track on Brother K‘s new EP, makes clear what this NYC-based outfit is all about: howling vocals and cranked tube amps. The Bo Diddley riff placed at the center of "Margery"’s chorus will get a sense of the respect the band has for its musical ancestors. But although Brother K summons the spirit of Joplin and Johnson, it refuses purism, drawing on punk’s volatility, pop’s sense of melody, and the blues’ pathos in equal measure (sometimes in the same song). Brother K’s words matter as much as its sound: front man Lucas Kwong, a one-time English major and unrepentant bibliophile, is as interested in telling stories as he is in the pentatonic scale. On the new EP, Claws and Stripes Forever, Kwong shrieks, mutters and croons his way through lyrics that range from gruesome decorum ("I’ll thank you later for my ten crippled fingers") to smart-ass Catholic ("Thomas Aquinas, get thee behind us!") to imagist wordplay ("A thousand interstates entangled the fortunes of the newly fangled"). "I’ve never seen an Asian guy with so much passion!" one bouncer allegedly told Kwong once. You can judge for yourself – they’re throwing an EP release party on 11/19 at the All Things Project (269 Bleecker), where they’ll also be screening the music video for "Payroll," a genre-mashing collaboration with rappers Jason Chu and Ryan Lucas. Show starts at 7:30. Free admission. – Alex Borsody
