Brechtian Blues

Band: These Immortal Souls.

Personnel: Rowland S. Howard, guitar, vocals; Genevieve McGuckin, keyboards; Epic Soundtracks, drums; Harry Howard, bass.

History: Rowland Howard was the slashing guitar-slinger behind one of the more apocalyptic post-punk groups of the early ‘80s, Australia’s Birthday Party. After the Party dissolved in London, Howard worked on some independent projects (including a single with Lydia Lunch with McGuckin on keyboards) before forming Crime and the City Solution with his brother Harry Howard and former Red Crayola and Swell Maps drummer Epic Soundtracks. After a less than arresting career, Crime disbanded, with the Howards, Soundtracks and McGuckin forming These Immortal Souls. The band began performing in last July. The first English group to be signed by L.A.’s hotshot independent label SST, the Souls recently released their first album, “Get Lost (Don’t Lie!).”

Sound: Imagine a skinny, punky Australian spewing a stream of Angst -ridden babble from his tortured soul, conveying an air of tatty, dissipated elegance. Set it to a crossroads brand of post-punk Brechtian blues and plop it in some dingy cabaret and you have a sense of what this supposedly immortal soul music is all about. A song like “Blood and Sand She Said” rambles through instrumental textures that both Doors and Captain Beefheart fans might find recognizable. Howard is still adept at sliding and slicing guitar and his vocals sound like the bottom of a crushed cigarette pack. But this kind of raw-voiced emoting is perfect for something like “Marry Me (Lie! Lie!),” a very cynical wedding march (or is that dirge ?) Working a similarly melodramatic terrain as his former Birthday Party mate Nick Cave (though with less histrionics and more musical panache), Howard and his Souls are still thrashing out a musical identity. Consider it an intriguing work in progress.

Show: Saturday at Scream.