The Silver Spring Penguin

Photo: Members of the band Grapefruit Experiment. Courtesy of Flickr user IntangibleArts.

Accordionist Wendy Hsu (left) and percussionist Carey Sargent dropped some experimental sounds during Saturday night’s Queering Sound showcase at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.

The program, which highlighted gay and lesbian artists, offered experimental music and digital art on Saturday. The two-day event closed Sunday with digital music and spoken-word performances.

Here’s the honest dope: I have never been a fan of house music. The strident keyboard pounding, the tired beats, the parachute pants — that shit just has to go. It’s not art. It’s machismo-fueled chest thumping.

But if one mixes that chest thumping with a bad aftro, a sophomoric sex drive and no chance of ever getting laid, the impalatable house sound suddenly evolves into a symphonic masterpiece. That’s what New York rappers Team Facelift pull off without a hitch.

The crew — Machine, Fat Jew and Alden Pact — are straight up about their skirt chasing, though one won’t hear these gents refer to women as bitches or hoes. Instead, their slick, sometimes silly rhymes aim their libidoes at anything with a hole in it. Pathetic? Yes. Cathartic enough to give birth to great music? Hellz yeah.

The song and video to “You Gonna Want Me” (below) is a blast! The dudes rap of “tranny hunting” and “pussy prowling” to a jumping house beat, all while emcee Fat Jew rubs his meaty hands over his flabby bare chest. Take it too seriously, and you just might miss the point.

Then there’s “I Want To Have Your Baby”, which is either a disgusting display of mysogyny or a new feminist anthem. The dudes’ rhymes are pleas to carry a baby (in the womb, that is), a strange twist on the musical mating ritual. At the same time, the song’s video depicts bloodied women on tables, with the gents dining on their remains. It’s a good tune in a perverse way.

Get a taste of Team Facelift from the band’s website, then catch them live at Gallery Lounge (1115 East-West Hwy) on Friday (that’s today). The doors open at 10:00 p.m., so be ready to flash $10 and convincing ID.

Photos and video courtesy of Team Facelift.

If I’ve learned anything about Silver Spring in the four years of my residency here, it’s this: The place is eclectic. Not in the sense that people dress funky, or paint their houses purple, or hold pot-luck dinners each month with their diverse neighbors.

Nope, Silver Spring is eclectic in the sense that there is a wide range of ideas and influences percolating in one small pot. Nothing (or no one) embodies that better than The Echo Boom, five guys from Silver Spring and Takoma Park who pull their collective sound from everywhere and everything and make it rock.

The band’s influences span the musical spectrum. Rap, rock, jazz, ska — you name it, it’s in there all at the same time. But the bandmates — vocalist Andrew Morisey, brothers Ben and Ryan Martinez on guitar and bass, Sean Cooney on trumpet and keys, and Will Whitney on skins — balance the elements with incredible tact, never giving too much of one thing and not enough of the other.

Let’s start with the tune “Got It Made”. The golden guitar work and subtle harmonies show signs of The Beatles’ Abbey Road (specifically, “Come Together”). But it also mashes slick Luda-like licks from vocalist Morisey, who raps more than he sings in The Echo Boom’s tracks. Still, his vocal style is sly, fly and grooves with the funk-inspired bass and beat. Yeah, funk’s in there, too.

Then there’s “The Matrix and the Maitre’ D”, a song that blends swing, rap, rock, a twist of ska from trumpetman Cooney, and even a fleeting hint of Flea from bassist Ryan Martinez. However, the song’s best attribute is its lyrics, which reflect the digital estrangement of echo boomers, a generation that’s never known life without high technology:

I’ve got a lot of friends that I don’t know.
I’ve got a lot of numbers in my phone.
And everyone of them would cast a stone if the tides would change.

I’ve got a dirty mouth that can’t be cleaned.
I’ve got quotes from a magazine.
I’ve got a lit cigarette and a can full of gasoline.

So it’s not Bob Dylan. It’s still great insight into the angst of a generation perceived to be spoiled by Steve Jobs and Facebook.

Hit ‘em up on the band’s MySpace page, then check out The Echo Boom Friday night (that’s tonight) at the Austin Grill (919 Ellsworth Dr). The gig is free, but the margarita in your salted glass will cost you.

Can’t make it tonight? They cruise into the Austin Grill again on Apr 4.

Photos and lyrics courtesy of The Echo Boom.

Back in the collegiate day, I knew a dude who tacked a billboard-sized poster of Bob Marley to his dorm-room wall. It had a golden lion standing stalwart on the beach, and Marley’s dredlocked visage sailing over it. There was also some reference to peace, one love and stuff.

But as beautiful as Marley’s songs of freedom were, I think his tunes and image served another purpose for this dude. They were aural and visual stimulation, something to set the mood when Dude entertained others or himself (and I’m not talking in the biblical sense).

Let’s face it: For many Americans, that’s exactly what reggae is. It’s an experience enhancer. And not that there’s anything wrong with that. If something deserves celebrating, then by all means, celebrate it.

That’s how Silver Spring’s Lionize (above) rolls — sick reggae grooves with a fun-loving rock and roll attitude.

In the tune “Remedy”, the band’s soulful lead singer can get a room swaying with his pangs for an illicit plant:

Don’t try to sell me your low grade
Don’t try to tell me you’re looking out
Don’t try to sell me your stems and seeds and sticks
I know a bad deal when I see it

What’s particularly tasty about Lionize is not that they sing about illegal stuff, but that they don’t care if they sing about illegal stuff. Best of all, the band doesn’t pretend to be channeling Marley — no Jamaican affect, no calls of peace and freedom for the suburbs (except in their cover of Bad Brains’ “I and I Survived”).

Lionize is just straight-up fun, with crunchy psychedelic guitar and wacked keyboard work for good measure. Take a drag from their MySpace page, then go for the full hit at 8:00 p.m. Friday night (that’s tonight) at the 9:30 Club (815 V St NW, The District). Fifteen bucks gets you through the door.

Photos courtesy of Lionize.