A Chill on Post-Punk: Antietam

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (0)

NEW YORK ALT-POP GROUP ANTIETAM has spent nearly 25 years building underground cred as innovative purveyors of heavy rock, with a guitar-maestro frontwoman and ferocious live shows that pound with the viciousness of a metal band. But listening to the band's new "Opus Mixtum" from back to front gives quite a different impression.

"Being a rock trio is our first love, but we find ourselves wanting to do other things," Tara Key said.

Very divergent other things:The second disc of "Opus Mixtum" breaks from the abrasive post-punk of the group's early career and offers up coolly acoustic instrumentals, contrasting the bluster of the first disc with quiet, creeping atmosphere. That style was something members of the band had been dabbling in; the original plan was to introduce that work on a separate album.

"When we were listening to the two records, it seemed like we could make a narrative out of putting them together and not generalizing the experience as one thing or another," Key said. "The double album has been a challenge to some people, and it might seem daunting to have all this material from us at one time, but the intent was for people to listen to it in different ways."

It's an unexpected mutation in the long evolution of Antietam, one that Key knows not everyone will be able to immediately process, especially fans used to the guttural gusts of sound that tear through the audience at live shows. But big changes to the live shows aren't in immediate plans.

"Live, when you're relegated to 40-minute sets, the rock stuff is easier to pull off. We, onstage, are always physical," she said. "When I'm onstage, I love running stuff together and having it have a real thrust."

It's hard to imagine beautifully crafted, melancholy instrumentals such as "The Gate Closed" satisfying a crowd worked into a sweaty frenzy by Key's bitterly sharp guitarwork, but that speaks to the unrestrained talent of the band. "Opus Mixtum" has moments of appeal for patrons of numerous genres, but Key isn't expecting fans to soak it all in at once.

"I would be thrilled if someone sat down and listened to it back-to-back," Key said. "My mother is the only person I would expect to do that."

» The Red and the Black, 1212 H St. NE; with Cobra Kisses, Dirty Excuse; Sat., 9 p.m., $8; 202-399-3201.

Photo courtesy Dawn Sutter Madell