Pitchfork

The Mae Shi [Blender Balcony at the Ritz; 8 p.m.]

The Mae Shi changed once over the last year. They haven't abandoned their glitchy noise, but now they're trying to write pop songs. Last night they changed twice, first into all-white sweatsuits, then back into unmatched regular Mae Shi clothing. Volume replaced a lot of the band's noise here. Their excellent track "Run to Your Grave" became a handclapped singalong that band members sang to each other. Pretty endearing, but their louder moments made my pen shake across my notebook like an EKG.

Andrew Bird [Stubb's; 9:30 p.m.]

A lyric like "we are all basically alone" (from "Imitosis") seems ridiculous when you're standing in a dirt lot with more than a thousand people. Bird played in front of the giant black-and-white gramophone that appears in his press photos, but it didn't provide a backing track. Instead, Bird did practically everything himself (though, Martin Dosh played drums). Early into his show, the dapper Chicagoan had his violin tucked in his arms, his guitar around his shoulder, and was whistling while tapping out a melody on a xylophone. This was the work of a sick man: "I woke up with a terrible fever this morning," Bird said. "But I felt better as soon as I stepped on stage. The fevers canceled each other out."

Clorox Girls [Emo's Jr.; 10:15 p.m.]

You could play subculture bingo with the TKO/BYO showcase audience: pompadours, creepers, mohawks, S.H.A.R.P. skinhead badges, combat boots-- that's five across right there. Clorox Girls were harder to pin down though. Lead singer Justin Maurer looked more like a weekend version of Owen Wilson, but their drummer wore a tight black shirt and red tie. This was the purest punk rock: one-two beats, quick chords, and a lead singer who menaced the audience with the neck of his guitar. Yet there was something elegant and perfect about all their songs, in how tightly their 70s punk-meets-French new wave works.

Gruff Rhys [Bourbon Rocks; 11 p.m.]

Gruff Rhys is a far calmer performer. Rhys was accompanied by Lisa Jen, who also performs on his second solo album, Candylion. The pair sat at a table that held, among other things, a baby blue glockenspiel and an orange metronome. The glockenspiel provided the twee, of course, but the Super Furry Animals singer mic'd the metronome and used it as a sort of analog drum machine. Genius!

Genghis Tron [Flamingo Cantina; 11:55 p.m.]

The jerkwads in Genghis Tron dedicated their set, "nay, the tour" to Brad Delp, the recently-deceased lead singer of Boston. The show provided the best tableau of the night: two couples in Friday business casual nervously trying to nod their heads to Tron's bowel-moving music, while a handful of guys moshed next to them. What's funny is that those guys didn't look any less awkward-- Genghis Tron transition from lulling, synth hum back to pounding, rapid fire drums and screams within seconds, so their dancers kept having to stop bouncing off each other to dance alone, hugging their chests and sighing.