Manchester, England’s WU LYF is not a Wu Tang Clan tribute but a garage rock band of four mysterious twenty-somethings. WU LYF, an acronym for World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation, initially gained notoriety for their purposely low profile—they refused to do press and turned down record deals, instead recording an album by themselves in an ecumenical church in Manchester. The band has recently begun granting select interviews, but still much of what we know about WU LYF is just the music heard on that album, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain, which happens to be fantastic. Frontman Ellery Roberts’ scratchy, Waits-ian vocals are laid on top of beautifully fluid guitar melodies, an intoning organ, and rolling drumbeats. The music takes on a captivating, liturgical quality. Roberts rather succinctly described his band when he told Pitchfork earlier this fall, “No one can understand us but anyone can connect with us.” With Crystal Antlers. ERIN K. THOMPSON

Sat., Nov. 19, 8 p.m., 2011