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Triple threat

Movers & Shakers

This Friday, October 24, at the Middle East upstairs, no fewer than three local rock bands will release brand-new CDs on the very same night — at the very same show. Do you have any idea what the odds are against something like that?! Okay, there are like 10 bazillion bands in the Metro Boston area, so maybe it’s not that unlikely. But to have all three of those bands be completely devoid of suck? That right there, people, is truly something. Odds are even better that you’ll dig this grab bag of samples below.

Movers & Shakers, “Take Your Time”
Isolate a bunch of rock dudes in a secluded Maine cabin for a week and you’d be lucky to end up with something as lovely as Larrabee, the sweet new full-length from Movers & Shakers. Way less feral-sounding than such a recording set-up might lead you to expect, and a smidge poppier than the countrified grit of their previous work — it’s sort of like if the Replacements occurred naturally in the woods.

The Cold Beat, “Antiquing”
Sporting members of the Call Up and the now defunct Lock & Key, the Cold Beat conjure the ’Mats, as well — though by their own account they sound more like “the Replacements being felched by Nirvana.” Thank goodness the chuggy guitars and raspy gusto of “Antiquing” (off the new Dumbwaiter EP) sound a lot nicer than that analogy.

Where the Land Meets the Sea, “Tiny Maps”
For a band with near–Traveling Wilbury levels of ex-members in their personnel (folks from the Campaign for Real-Time, the Cold Beat, Lock & Key, Smoke or Fire, and Okay Thursday), WTLMTS have an arrestingly cohesive sound. A nice mix of pop, post-punk, and (don’t kill me) adventurous emo à la Denali or Minus the Bear.

Lovers, Muggers & Thieves, “Turtle” (Live)
They aren’t dropping an album tonight (it’s what makes them “special” guests), but that hasn’t gotten in the way of a bunch of people from Quincy learning the words to “Turtle.” LM&T are a promising young pop-punk force, and from the looks of this show, we’re already a little late to their kegger.

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