WEDNESDAY, JULY 25:

The Rapture might have made it big during the indie new-wave dance craze (R.I.P., 2003-2004), but clearly they weren’t looking to be lump-summed as part of that instantly evaporating movement. Look at their big single back then, “House of Jealous Lovers”—the dance-beat-meets-nearly no-wave guitar that catapulted Franz Ferdinand/the Bravery/the Killers behemoth to infamy is similar, but no other band used such extensive cowbell to get their dance-floor message across. And sometimes it’s a cowbell that separates a good band from a great band. That and a singer like Luke Jenner who screams forth lyrics with an intensity that’s barely restrained by bass work of Matt Safer. So, hold all your Gang of Four forgery comments to yourself, because I can’t think of one song by said band that employs even a single hit of said instrument. And that’s what tradition is all about: perfecting the work of the past, one cowbell hit at a time. (GG)

WITH FOREIGN BORN AT THE MAYAN, 1038 S. HILL ST., LOS ANGELES. 9 PM / $21.50 / ALL AGES. WWW.GOLDENVOICE.COM. ALSO THURSDAY, JULY 26.