Purling Hiss/Herzog/Chomp!

A few years ago, in bucolic North Adams, Mass., Purling Hiss walked onstage at Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival and ripped up a heady set of distorted, lo-fi, angular music. That’s what the Philly indie rock band is known for: weirdness, in a word. And so it’s kind of apropos that, just this past September, they release an album titled Weirdon, which advances the band’s canon and -- in a weird turn of events -- sees them playing the alt-rock straight man for once. The new LP is straight-up fuzz rock on the surface, with plenty of shared DNA strewn among worn copies of old CDs from, like, the Replacements and Swervedriver and Pavement. “Learning Slowly” is a nice amalgam of the same. Purling Hiss is some good rock ‘n’ roll in 2014, and those considering the show tonight should totally check out Weirdon. These guys care about music. (Sandy)