Live bands don’t come much cooler than Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – the trio’s all cigarettes and swagger and dark clothes and loud, grimy, moody riffs and rhythms, owing to their collective love of the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Velvet Underground and the Stones. The band’s still touring behind last year’s Baby 81, which returns to the sexy, druggy, volatile rock ‘n roll of their self-titled 2001 debut, after the detour into semi-acoustic blues-gospel that was 2005’s Howl. It’s said that Howl‘s stripped-back nature was due in part to the 2004 departure of co-founding drummer Nick Jago, who was dealing with substance abuse issues. Jago returned for Baby 81, but left again this past June – he’s been replaced by Leah Shapiro, who was recently seen playing drums in the touring incarnation of the Raveonettes. Word is BRMC’s new lineup has been tearing it up something fierce of late, so this should definitely be one of the coolest shows of the summer.

Sun., Sept. 7, 8 p.m., 2008