Dicky Jaguar and the Five Percenters

When these hellions take the stage, it's almost as though you're traveling back in time, getting to see the New York Dolls in their heyday, only with shorter hair and a raw songwriting style shorn of unnecessary refinements to match. Dicky Jaguar and the Five Percenters' sound is a glorious fusion of bluesy punk rock and glam, like the Stooges roping in Johnny Thunders for a one-off record. While it's clear that booze is Jaguar's muse, unlike certain other Iggy-inspired performers, he and his band are still able to deliver electrifying performances with solid songwriting to back up any on-stage shenanigans. Like Suicide's Alan Vega, Dicky has an otherworldly intensity to his stage presence, and his feral scream sounds more genuine than anything we've heard in a long time. The band (due this Monday, May 5, at the hi-dive) may be drawing on archaic influences once thought tapped out, but they somehow bring together that rare combination of grit, imagination, musical sophistication and the wild spirit of primal rock and roll.