Q and Not U

It’s understandable that much sophisticated ink has been spent on Q and Not U’s context, rather than its music. The band does, after all, come complete with its share of buzzy reference points, including (try not to get nauseous) “dance punk,” “DC-core” and “emo.” But let’s pretend we’re blissfully unschooled in the musical trends that have fractured and convoluted in the past 20 years. Let’s say our record collections don’t stray further left than Gwen Stefani, and we wander into the show Thursday night expecting some self-indulgent college music. Here’s what we’ll find: three slightly Muppet-esque chaps basically getting down. They jump around, they wail, they rock, they funk, they brandish more falsetto than a Stephen Sondheim musical. The music is seriously rhythmic, adventurously catchy, sometimes acrid, sometimes as perky and familiar as something you can hear on a classic R&B station. Although you’ll pick out some political-sounding lyrics, they contain no incitements as easily understood as the music, which says, “Dance, now, and not in an ironic way, Poindexter!”