Trouble Funk: The Eternals

Photos courtesy Damon Locks

SILVER SPRING NATIVE DAMON LOCKS is coming home. A music publicist by day, Locks leads the Chicago-based band The Eternals, a trio that mixes reggae beats, dub effects, punk attitudes and performance-art-like vocals to make a sound that's at once confrontational and deeply booty-shaking.

His group plays The Rock and Roll Hotel on Tuesday night, and the concert will feature music from the band's new CD, "Heavy International" (Aesthetics), a blast of freak-funk music and political-minded lyrics.

"When I was a kid, a lot of punk music that I admired had a political message or a political bent," said Locks, 38. "Whether it was The Clash or The Specials or Minor Threat, I was always enthralled with people who had something to say. So when I started to create my own personality through my lyrics, I thought, 'Oh, I'd better have something to say.'"

The way Locks says his words, however, sometimes confuses listeners. His crooning veers all over the map, from singsong melodies to off-pitch yelps, flitting in and out of the band's discordantly danceable music.

"I'm attracted to using the voice in different ways," Locks said. "I listen to a lot of music from different countries: Egyptian music, taarab music from Tanzania, or Korean folk songs. I like to listen to music like that and figure out different ways of approaching melody, not necessarily our regular Western way of approaching melody. Instrumentally, [The Eternals] do stuff in a different way, so it made sense for me to find different ways of approaching the vocal structures. So, I took lessons to learn more about the vocal decisions I make."

Locks left Silver Spring 18 years ago to attend art school in Chicago, where he formed the ska-funk-punk band Trenchmouth, which included "Saturday Night Live" funnyman Fred Armisen. When that group broke up, Locks and bassist Wayne Montana formed The Eternals. (The trio's current drummer is jazz vet Tim Mulvenna.)

The Eternals' band name isn't after the Marvel comic book, or even an allusion to Rakim's lyrics in "Follow the Leader" ("Am I eternal? Or an eternalist?"). It comes from a place much more pedestrian — or, rather, commuterly:

"I came up with it while sitting on the bus one day," Locks said.

» The Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE; with Sentai and A Study in Her, 9 p.m., $10; 202-388-7625.