Music Events

The Defilers

It seems today that most rock bands hide from their rock 'n' roll heritage.

Like a youth hiding from his mother, who appears through a shroud of smog and gas fumes in the family station wagon after the first day of high school, these bands have lost touch with the true essence of the rock attitude. They have lost touch with the history and foundation that has bred the very music they now create.

Whereas other rock bands hide from their ancestry, Charleston's local trio The Defilers embrace it. It is the smog, fumes and grease of the family station wagon that The Defilers seek out for a ride.

It is the rough hands and weathered faces of great rebel spirits such as Johnny Cash and Hank Williams that the Defilers admire; the words and stories of songsmiths such as Bob Dylan and

Bill Monroe that inspire them; and the showmanship and style of performers such as Elvis Presley that entertain them.

While the band nestles itself in the soft legacies of country and rock's forefathers, The Defilers keep a progressive edge by adding a steady stream of punk to its historical concoction of rock 'n' roll spirit. The band says that Social Distortion and The Cramps are equals to the man in black and Hank Williams.

The Defilers will perform with Guitar Bomb and The Sweet Ones Friday at the Tin Roof, 1117 Magnolia Road. Visit myspace.com/westashleytinroof or call 571-0775 for more information on the show.

Mad Tea Party

They've been described as the B-52's meets Buddy Holly and also as The Squirrel Nut Zippers meets Southern Culture on the Skids.

However you want to compare them, Ami Worthen and Jason Krekel have set out to make their Asheville-based duo Mad Tea Party a fun jumbling of surf rock, doo-wop and blues.

While the music is overtly simplistic, almost annoyingly so, there is a certain free-spirited mood that reverberates through every song and lifts the energy level of the audience into a head-bobbing, foot-tapping, shoulder-squirming frenzy.

Mad Tea Party is celebrating the release of its latest EP, "Zombie Boogie," and will perform tonight with Toubab Krewe at The Pour House, 1977 Maybank Hwy.

Tickets are $12 at the door or online at etix.com. Visit charlestonpourhouse.com or call 571-4343 for more information.