Grampall Jookabox

Indianapolis's David Adamson seems like the kind of guy who has an awesome record—or at least mp3—collection. Ropechain, his latest album under the rather unfortunate nom-de-rock Grampall Jookabox, atom-smashes concepts and genres together into a post-nuclear house party. He segues easily from one savvy vocal impression to another—Prince, Korn's Jonathan Davis, Jimi Hendrix, even the late Brad Nowell, of stoner-ska outfit Sublime—confident in his ability to find homes for each and every one in the most unlikely of musical backdrops: R&B langour for "I Will Save Young Michael," skeletal funk for "The Girl Ain't Preggers," Negro spiritual-cum-folk for "I'm Absolutely Freaked Out." Anxious, inventive, and not beholden to any one path, Adamson's like Beck Hansen's slightly daft little brother—and that's no bad thing at all. With Murzik and Pale Young Gentlemen. 21+.
Fri., Nov. 21, 9 p.m., 2008