By Lavanya Ramanathan
Friday, May 2, 2008; C11

If you've turned on the television at all in the past few weeks, you've probably seen the faux scandalous commercials for the new season of "Gossip Girl." That addictive, sexed-up song pumping as the privileged teens, well, writhe?

That's the Kills , an Anglo-American duo that won over the indie world back in 2003 with their debut full-length, "Keep on Your Mean Side" -- long before the menacing "Sour Cherry" was purring "shout when you want to get off the ride" from televisions across the country.

Tonight, the Kills, who must be seen to be believed, play the Black Cat, one of the first stops on their U.S. tour.

As other bands seem to accumulate members, the Kills -- Alison "VV" Mosshart (the American) and Jamie "Hotel" Hince (the Britisher) -- remain small, ragged, pared down, employing only a guitar or two, a drum machine for beats, and hand claps. And on "Midnight Boom," their newest record, the drum machine is at its most prominent, making the Kills' trademark two-minute gutter-blues oddly catchy.

To come up with their latest sound, "we didn't listen to anything," says Mosshart, who chatted this week by phone between U.K. dates. "You know when you wake up in the morning and listen to music, it stays with you all day?

"We only basically listened to the Kills" -- the music they had just finished recording. Instead, inspiration came from life: "We did things like read books, sit on the porch and smoke cigarettes . . ."

But the notoriously lo-fi band has taken up the act of blogging. Mosshart's dispatches from the road are evocative little paintings of new places, and light on the typical band banter.

She explains: "It's boring isn't it, talking about the gig every night? The stuff that's interesting to me is that you're going to different countries with different histories."

And Washington, with its vaunted punk history, it turns out, is one of her favorite places to play. "My favorite band in the world is Fugazi."

The Kills play the Black Cat tonight. $15. 9 p.m. 1811 14th St. NW. Get tickets at the door (202-667-7960) or through Ticketmaster (202-397-7328).

CONCERT The Cure The band postponed its Sept. 19 show at the Patriot Center last fall -- okay, the whole North American tour -- citing a desire to complete its new double album and rework the tour a bit. Good thing Cure fans are in love with heartbreak. All business done (though the album, the band's 13th, is still nowhere to be seen), the band finally comes to the Fairfax venue next week. May 9. $57.50. 8 p.m. Patriot Center, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax. 202-397-7328.

CONCERT Polvo This was a surprising find on the Black Cat schedule, considering that the mostly Chapel Hill, N.C.,-based band hasn't been together for 10 years. Apparently, it was an invitation by Explosions in the Sky to play All Tomorrow's Parties that got Polvo back in gear. And blessed be Washington, because that's where Polvo -- the same but different; there's a new drummer, Brian Quast -- will play the first show of its first tour in a decade. The show is May 9. $13. 9 p.m. Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. 202-667-7960 or 202-397-7328.

LITERATURE PlanetWalker Some of us are forced to drive less when gas hits nearly $4 a gallon. In 1971, John Francis gave up driving entirely in response to an oil spill in San Francisco Bay; instead he walked everywhere, including across the country, for his cause. He kept it up for 22 years. Later, "because, man, I just argued all the time," he gave up talking -- for 17 years. So, as much as we want it to be true, we are not and will never be as sagelike, as good a person, or as sanctimoniously green as John Francis. A few years ago, he wrote a book, "PlanetWalker," about his fight against the oil industry and work for social change. The book is being republished (see gas prices, above), and he visits the Sixth & I Synagogue on May 19 to talk about his story in an event co-sponsored by National Geographic Live. $6 or free with purchase of the book. May 19 at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St. NW. 202-408-3100.

CONCERT Flo Rida Okay, we'll write this one time and one time only: It's pronounced Flow Ride-a (not Florida, though the rapper is from the Sunshine State). And he is riding into Love on the success of his catchy, ubiquitous, shawty-get-low-low-low-low-low anthem, "Low." If you've been living in a cave, the song heralds those classy ladies who know how to hit the flo'. He's at Love tonight. $20 in advance through http://www.lovetheclub.com. Tickets go up at the door. 21 and older. Doors at 9 p.m. Love, 1350 Okie St. NE. 202-636-9030.

FILM "Osama" This movie, showing at the Library of Congress's Mary Pickford Theater tonight, follows an Afghan woman and her 12-year-old daughter who under the Taliban are forbidden to leave their house without a male companion. After all the family's men are slain, the woman devises a plan to disguise the girl as a boy, named Osama, so they might earn a living. In Persian and Pashto with English subtitles. Free. 7 p.m. tonight. Mary Pickford Theater, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Reservations requested; call 202-707-5394.

FILM "Late Bloomers" This Swiss movie, part of FilmFest DC, is about yet another woman faced with earning a living after her husband passes away. This one is an 80-year-old widow and former seamstress who is encouraged by her friends to realize her dream of opening a lingerie store, to the dismay of her village. The film was Switzerland's Oscar entry. $10. 6:30 p.m. Avalon Theatre (also tomorrow at 9 p.m. at Regal Cinemas Gallery Place). For a full list of films, visit http://www.filmfestdc.org. (Note: Day-of-show tickets available only at the box office.) Avalon Theatre, 5612 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-234-3456.

THE SCENE Sundress Party at Wonderland Spend the morning at brunch and your afternoon at the bar. The Wonderland Bohemian Beer Garden is hosting this dress-up party to raise money for the nearby Latin American Youth Center. If you don't have a sundress, you can buy one for $10. The event will feature a pig roast in the beer garden. Free, with drink specials all night for anyone in a sundress. 4 p.m. 1101 Kenyon St. NW. 202-232-5263.

FESTIVALS Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival Today through Sunday, the City Dock in Annapolis will be buzzing with this celebration of life on the shores of the Chesapeake, particularly crab consumption. You can take tours of the replica of the early 20th-century schooner Virginia, see a pet parade, eat and hear plenty of live music. Today is education day, with activities for children. Free (though some events, such as tonight's block party, have a small fee, generally about $5). 10 a.m.-7 p.m. today, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. tomorrow, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. For a full festival schedule, visit http://www.mdmhf.org.

THE SCENE Kinetic Sculpture Race Held each year by the American Visionary Art Museum, this race is much more than an excuse to get silly (though it is that, since spectators are encouraged to dress and act as if it's Halloween). Competitors use ingenuity and artistry to create cool-looking, human-powered vehicles that can run over land and float on the water. It's held over 15 miles of Baltimore's Inner Harbor area, with the sculptures going for a dip in the Chesapeake. Entries in the six-hour race in recent years have included a stunning mini riverboat and an ornately dressed, life-size Indian elephant (which returns this year). The race is tomorrow. Free. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Race starts at the American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy., Baltimore. For spectator "rules" (funny little notes on how you might want to dress), visit http://www.kineticbaltimore.com. 410-244-1900.

ON STAGE "The Second City: One Nation Under Blog" This show by the touring troupe of the famed Chicago comedy theater is a sellout every time it's in the area, and the performance tomorrow at BlackRock Center for the Arts is no different. However, if you're dying to be where the action is, you can still snag the handful of standing-room-only tickets available for the show, which uses both scripted sketches and audience participation to parse such issues as the presidential campaigns, smoking bans, terrorism and sex. $12.50. Tickets available beginning at 7 p.m. (get there early, because there's sure to be a line); show at 8 p.m. BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Dr., Germantown. 301-528-2260.

EXHIBIT "Rackets and Remedies" Local painter Laurel Hausler opens a show of works inspired by Alexandria's own Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, a circa-1792 pharmacy full of antique bottles and other vintage paraphernalia. The exhibition, opening today with a reception at the Athenaeum, includes paintings with an inscrutable, snake-oil quality that harks back to unregulated, early medicine. Says Hausler: "We look upon the medical knowledge of the time with a sense of amusement . . . but if someone were to shut the doors on a CVS and open them up in 150 years, I wonder which medicines and remedies would prove laughable or ignorant to people in the future." Free. Reception, 5-7 p.m. The show is up through June 15. 201 Prince St., Alexandria. 703-548-0035.

FESTIVALS Town of Potomac Centennial Hat Parade If you have never heard of the town of Potomac, there's good reason. It's now called Del Ray, that Alexandria neighborhood with boutiques and the like -- but 100 years ago, it was a tawdry gambling hub. Tomorrow, the neighborhood throws the Centennial Hat Parade, a jaunt down Commonwealth Avenue with antique cars, a marching band and more. Wear a hat from any time in the past 100 years, and bring a pet (and yes, they have to wear the appropriate headgear, too). Free. 9:45 a.m.-noon. Commonwealth Avenue and Cliff Street, Alexandria. http://www.potomaccentennial.org or 703-683-2570.

CONCERT Stars of the Lid You have to have a certain ability to relax, to abandon all expectations of being entertained, when you see ambient bands such as Stars of the Lid live. A little orchestral, a little slow and cinematic, the duo of Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride is best when you stop and just listen -- and these stars of the drone scene really are fantastic. On the road promoting last year's double CD (the first release in six years), "And Their Refinement of the Decline," they'll be at Iota on Sunday. $14. 8:30 p.m. Iota Club & Cafe, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. 703-522-8340.