The Briefs

For the past six years, The Briefs have been sticking Seattle's mopey indie-rock ass with a healthy shot of '77-style punk rock, and the fun is quickly spreading nationally. The quartet's sound pledges allegiance to such forebears as the Ramones, the Buzzcocks, the Vibrators, and the Rezillos -- their style is fast and aggressive but not brutal, snarky but not grouchy, loony but not asinine, and mixed with a big appreciation of catchy, New Wavey pop melodies. Rarely without their goofy shades and skinny ties, guitarists Steve E. Nix and Daniel J. Travanti, drummer Chris Brief, and bassist Stevie Kicks (who replaces the recently departed Lance Romance) all sing, offering vocals spat, sneered and hiccuped, occasionally delivered in faux-British accents with plenty of backing "whoaaaaa-ooohs" and chanting choruses; their songs are pogo-friendly blasts about being poor, being weird, having crabs, and getting new shoes and socks. "We just wanna get people jumping up and down and having a good time," says Nix, "and when it's really energetic like that, we can just concentrate on being dumb-ass entertainers and having fun."