Engine Down With Missing Pilots and Marichal

Tonight, 7:30 p.m.

Public Health Auditorium,… Engine Down With Missing Pilots and Marichal

Tonight, 7:30 p.m.

Public Health Auditorium, $6

All ages

Sponsored by WPTS

WPTS will again provide Pitt’s live music-starved campus with some regional rock ‘n’ roll and free food from Jimmy John’s tonight at the Public Health Auditorium, a spot that’s surprisingly good for such performances,

Engine Down, famed for work with indie rock producer J. Robbins, formed in 1996 in Harrisonburg, Va., from bands such as Sleepytime Trio, The Weak Link Breaks and Bughummer.

This band’s most unique characteristic is that its members have opted for a more subdued, orchestral sound and have abandoned their former roots in screamy vocals and abrupt songs with rough edges. The quartet has employed not only guitars, bass and drums, but also cello, vibraphone and piano on its recordings.

On their most recent full-length album, Demure, Engine Down wanders somewhere in the gloomy neighborhood of emo and hardcore, but somehow differs from both genres. This album has a contemplative, versatile nature that comes from its steady tempos and cynical lyrics. Though the tracks occasionally rock hard, they could stand a few more tempo changes and buildups to crescendos. Still, this band’s instrumental dabbling and hypnotic minor key guitars should make their stage presence well worth your attention.

Missing Pilots are a self-proclaimed, hard-working garage band, whose music shows a great deal of admiration for Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Built to Spill, among others. Sure, you may have heard this story before, but it almost always guarantees a sincere and memorable performance.

Put yourself in a slightly but not too disgruntled mood, and trudge down Fifth Avenue to witness some good indie rock before yours and these bands’ youthful angst fades.