Either White Williams has crawled through some magic portal that leads into the same mental microcosm where artistic visionaries like Bowie, Eno, Talking Heads, and Neu! all found their groove, or the playful 24-year-old just knows how to hone the uniquely stylish characteristics of those who came before him really fucking well. And I mean that as the utmost compliment. On Williams’ Tigerbeat 6 debut, Smoke, he is as humorous as he is strange—and the songs he makes, all infected with bouncy, retro goodness (including a nostalgic cover of “I Want Candy”), lock you into his twisted, colorful world, where “we’ll hang from the branches, while the mayor dances, in the headlines.” They are as smart or dumb as they are complicated or simple. Williams may still be green compared to the ahead-of-their-time vets his musical vision is undoubtedly in debt to, but there’s no denying that Williams has created some truly great art-pop songs of today and the future. You’ll be reading about White Williams in the headlines everywhere. Mark my word. With Health, Check Minus, and DJs Colby B and Glitterpants. TRAVIS RITTER

Listen to a sample of White Williams’ “New Violence.”

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Thu., Jan. 24, 9 p.m., 2008