David's an easy man to please. Sit him in front of a TV showing a Wizards game with some hot bagel bites and a cold High Life and he's all set. It's pretty much the same when it comes to music. He doesn't need some huge festival with big-name reunions and dozens of bands and multiple stages. A two-band bill on the Black Cat's backstage featuring a pair of indie rock's most overlooked bands is just fine, thanks. That's exactly what's on tap tonight with Love as Laughter (listen) and the Oranges Band (listen) teaming up for what we'll call Malitz Fest '08. Both bands suffer from something unfortunate called Friends of the Famous syndrome, in which their longtime buddies go on to big things while they stay stagnant in terms of popularity. Sam Jayne, the mainstay of delightfully ragged rockers Love as Laughter, played on Beck's 1994 album "One Foot in the Grave," helped get the Shins signed to Sub Pop and has been a sometimes member of Modest Mouse. Baltimore's precise pop kings the Oranges Band have done major tours with the Hold Steady and Ted Leo, and frontman Roman Kuebler played bass with Spoon for a short spell. But the lack of success hasn't hampered either band; maybe it's even served as inspiration. Love as Laughter's recent "Holy" may be a new peak on the band's sixth album. Some of the post-grunge fuzziness has been traded in for more reflective and sometimes even funky -- or at least more percussive -- tunes. The Oranges Band hasn't been heard from on record since 2005's summery sensation, "The World and Everything In It," but if some new tunes played at DC9 a few weeks ago are any indication, the album scheduled for release this fall should be a less breezy, harder rocking affair. The addition of former Guided By Voices guitarist Doug Gillard to provide some scorching lead guitar lines can only be a good thing.