The Boggs

Johnson’s Big Band

Tomorrow night, doors 6 p.m.

Club… The Boggs

Johnson’s Big Band

Tomorrow night, doors 6 p.m.

Club Cafe $8, 21+

(412) 431-4950

The cover of the Boggs’ debut album we are the Boggs we are pictures four men and two women sitting on a vintage couch in thrift shop clothes with perfectly mussed hair. The guy in the middle, whose hair sticks straight up, wears a scarf with a British flag, and the scruffy-looking guy on the far left is even pretending to read a copy of Shout magazine, whose cover story features the Strokes. One can probably expect to hear some coarse rock ‘n’ roll from New York City.

However, don’t judge an album by its cover. In actuality, the Boggs are as un-New York that a band from New York could be, cooking up a racket of accordion, mandolin, pennywhistle, slide guitar, autoharp, claps, washboards, harmonica, fiddle, guitar, banjo and stomps.

After playing Brooklyn’s street corners and subway platforms during 2001, the Boggs recorded and mixed their album in two days on Arena Rock Records. The 20-track debut was released in the United States in March 2002, echoing both Americana and the British invasion blues revival of the early 1960s.

Brad Conroy’s drumming and singer/song writer/guitarist Jason Friedman’s whiskey-drenched vocals create a new breed of indie rock in much the same way that the Pogues and Flogging Molly play Celtic punk. The six-member band melds traditional Americana ballads with a flurry of energy, sometimes getting loud and rowdy and other times getting melancholy, evoking both the haunting spirituals and the more joyous sing-songing found on the “O Brother, Where art Thou?” soundtrack.

The Boggs’ record is organic live sound and low production as well as their live show itself, which has gained a reputation for its energy. Head down to Club Cafe tomorrow night with some highbrow hipster pals, who are sure to be surprised.