INDIAN JEWELRY "Free Gold!" We Are Free

INDIAN JEWELRY"Free Gold!"We Are Free

ALTHOUGH THE ALBUM'S junk-shop aesthetic is entirely contemporary, large swaths of Indian Jewelry's upcoming release, "Free Gold!," are reminiscent of the '60s. This Houston band is known for raucous grooves, so it's hardly unexpected that "Temporary Famine Ship" and "Bird Is Broke (Won't Sing)" evoke such modal noisemakers as Can and the Velvet Underground. But the band also veers toward Mamas & the Papas territory with "Everyday," a shockingly balmy change of pace.

Such shifts are part of the concept for the group, whose membership is intentionally unstable. This album features four full-timers and three guests, and on tour the band has been known to add and subtract players as it goes. Despite such tactics, Indian Jewelry's music is surprisingly coherent. Underneath the rowdy synthesizers and absurdist lyrics ("Wed, talk, spat/Young C. bought it from abroad" is a representative couplet), a steady pulse prevails. "Free Gold!" certainly isn't classic rock, but it does uphold the essential rock-and-roll attributes of din, swagger and locomotion.

-- Mark Jenkins

Appearing Wednesday with True Womanhood at the Red and the Black (202-399-3201,http://www.redandblackbar.com). Doors open at 9.