Quick Hits

by Luke Baumgarten & r & & r & & lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & D & lt;/span & irty, Southern-inflected classic rock is hot right now -- ask your kid brother. You know, the one with the greasy face and bandana who's getting laid more than you. Him. Since 1978, College Music Journal (CMJ) has proved, sometimes kicking and screaming, to be the vanguard of what's hot at a certain (independent) level.





It makes sense, then, that Spokane ex-pats ICE AGE COBRA -- who are themselves incredibly hot and among the dirtiest of the Southern rock resurgents -- would land a spot at next week's annual indie hot-maker the CMJ Music Marathon festival in Manhattan. They've got a new CD to hawk, entitled Brilliant Ideas From Amazing People, which couples wanky, psychedelic box art and tongue-in-cheek song titles ("Dancefloor's on Fire," "Weapon of Mass Seduction," "Tornado of Knives." etc.) with big classic rock riffage.





It's an unofficial rule of the universe, though, that before you can sell a CD, you have to release it first with some sort of CD-release party. They're doing that here, Sunday night at Mootsy's.





Ice Age Cobra with Flee the Century and Tokio Weigh Station at Mootsy's on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 9 pm. Tickets: TBA. Call 838-1570.





& lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & W & lt;/span & ith album titles like Virgin No. 72 and Rockin' in Ramallah and a logo that depicts the Earth made to look like a grenade, you might think that Tel Aviv's THE GENDERS would be at least anti-Islam, if not outwardly (militantly) Zionist.





Turns out that, quite the opposite of being anti-Islam, the Israeli rockers are jealous of the heavenly reward of six-dozen ladies. Their music is what you'd expect: a mix of the Ramones and Spinal Tap but played straight, no irony. They're seriously serious about getting laid.





As for the Earth/grenade logo thing: It's a reminder of the constant fear that consumes Israelis, Palestinians and much of the rest of the Middle East (and, for that matter, the rest of the world). It just so happens that the same fear that makes many people want to blow up other people makes the Genders want to get all sexy. Would that certain world leaders and terrorists had that reaction. Of course, at some point, they're going to need to get the misogyny talk....





The Genders with the Blowouts at the Spread on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 9 pm. Tickets: TBA. Call 456-4515.








& lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & T & lt;/span & here was always something disingenuous about Rage Against the Machine -- with the band's unabashed hatred of capitalism -- shilling for a major label (and becoming ridiculously wealthy in the process), but as Rage guitarist Tom Morello has said: "Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & amp; Noble?" What he meant was: It wouldn't be utopianism if it didn't require a little moral drift at the implementation stage.





Taking that absurdity slightly further is Seattle's BULLET IN YOUR HEAD. Billing themselves as "the world's premier tribute to the music of Rage Against the Machine" (making them first out of like two), the band drops all sorts of Marxist-ish jargon (using "propaganda" in place of "news" and "capitalism" in place of "store" on their Web site) without a seeming understanding of what those words mean.





Couple that with guitar that closely mimics Morello's honestly brilliant work and a reasonable Zack de la Rocha impression, and you have a competent tribute on several levels.





Bullet in Your Head with Mourning After, the Sex Cells and Soap Barr at the Blvd. on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 8 pm. Tickets: $8. Call 455-7826.