Critic's Choice

Houston’s Pure Rubbish, Saturday, August 5, at the 15th Street Tavern, with Hemi Cuda and the Volts, is really messing up the notion that punk rock is a bastion of anti-authoritarianism. A few years ago, lead guitarist Derek D and drummer Evan D asked their father, Punk Daddy, to sing for their newly formed band, a prepubescent outfit that almost creepily recalled the riffage of such bands as the Ramones, AC/DC and the Sex Pistols. Punk Daddy smoked the audition, and Pure Rubbish has been a family affair ever since. Of course, it could just be that the kids bring Pops along on tours -- which in the past year have included stints with Motörhead, Nashville Pussy and the Supersuckers -- so that someone in the band can legally rent hotel rooms and buy lottery tickets. Now sixteen (Derek) and fourteen (Evan), the D brothers are wholly devoted to a style that peaked before they were even sparkles in Punk Daddy’s bleary eye; their scrappy live intensity and seasoned-beyond-their years chops are enough to force both Britney and the Backstreet Boys into some subterranean bunker reserved for teenaged hacks. It may be Rubbish, but it’s a lot more pure than some of the trash passing for rock and roll these days.