The Silver Spring Penguin

Rubber hose in hand, The Penguin interrogates JP McDermott, guitarist for local new-wave band The Spectacles.

Q. Whose rockin’ what in this band?

A. John Kelly (yep, the one from The Post) plays drums. Chuck Dolan plays bass and vocals. Pat McDermott (often referred to as JP McDermott’s damn-near identical twin cousin) plays guitar and vocals.

The core of the band is all from Silver Spring — Chuck and John live in Woodside Park. I live in North Woodside.

Q. So who’s that fourth guy in the band?

A. Andy Rutherford, on lead guitar.

Q. What’s his story?

A. Andy is a hotshot ringer from Vienna, Va. He’s a great all-around player and can play any type of music.

We’re almost exactly the same age, so we listened to a lot of the same records growing up. The Spectacles stuff lets him stretch out and play some really cool leads.

Q. How would you describe your sound?

A. The band is a power-pop band, kind of like The Knack or Elvis Costello from back around the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Q. Totally rad. So how did this party get started?

A. John and I had a version of this band together back in 1978 to 1986. We played a lot of originals in tiny clubs, like the Gentry, on Wednesday nights. Marriage, jobs and kids intervened.

After I had the rockabilly band [JP McDermott and Western Bop] up and running for a while, I got the itch to play some power pop again. Chuck is a mutual friend and a great bass player, so it just sort of clicked.

We’ve played on and off for about two years now.

Q. Wait, dude. You’re ‘JP’ with Western Bop and ‘Pat’ with The Spectacles. What’s up with the identity crisis?

A. In Western Bop, I’m the front man. When I was first bringing The Spectacles together, I was a little concerned about confusing people. It turned into a running joke.

Q. Ha ha … uh, what?

A. I play electric guitar with The Spectacles and acoustic with Western Bop.

Q. I see.

A. I just love doing both. Both sounds are really important to me, so I find a way to make it work. Chuck handles about half of the lead vocals so I can work more on backing vocals and guitar parts.

The song construction is much different, too. Some of the power-pop stuff is harmonically complex, while Western Bop is just “three chords and the truth.” Also the clothes are different, so that keeps me on my toes! I never get confused.

Q. Cool. At least one of us is good to drive. Got any gigs you’d like to plug?

A. The Spectacles are playing the Quarry House [8401 Georgia Ave] on Friday, July 13. [Performance starts at 8:00 p.m.]

We’re playing with a great DC band, The Ambitions. Their stuff is a very high-energy take on the Stax sound — sort of new-wave soul. It’s very danceable.