Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania— for those of you who don’t know— is not like Seattle, Washington. To steal from Sam Jackson: They ain’t the same ball-park, ain’t even the same fuckin’ sport. This is why P-burgh psych-punk three-piece Modey Lemon could’ve been hard for some of you native West Coasters to wrap your heads around at first. Like all good Garage Rockers Hailing From Post-Industrial Cities (Stooges, et. al.), Modey Lemon were originally all about rock n’ roll destruction. With just guitar and drums (at first, at least), they pummeled out rock songs that shook, rattled, and teetered on the brink of collapse. It was an unwashed, sagging, awesome sight that— as anyone who had walked the streets of Pittsburgh was familiar with— had a lot of soul for being in such disarray. Nowadays, however, the Modey M.O. seems to be about dousing those shambolic jammers in lysergic haze, something West Coasters know a thing or two about. On their latest, Season of Sweets, the songs are simple melodic hummers wrapped in fuzzy turmoil…but with a little Kraut thrown in for good measure. Hell, there are spots on here resembling Oneida. So, maybe Pittsburgh’ll be a prog town after all. Anything the new generation can do to distance itself from Joe Gruschecky & the Iron City Rockers, I guess. With Thee Emergency, Fast Friends UK, IM a Gun. Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 323-9853. 8 p.m.

Sun., July 6, 8 p.m., 2008