Philadelphia’s the War on Drugs have coined one of the best album titles of recent years with Slave Ambient. The music itself combines My Bloody Valentine’s sublimely gauzy indie rock with Bruce Springsteen’s heroically bombastic melodies: That may be a first. Fellow Philadelphians Purling Hiss rock harder and more chaotically, evoking the brutally honed, rust-belted clangor of the MC5 and Royal Trux at their most aggressive. The City of Brotherly Love bestows on us a perfect night of yin-yang rock. (Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave NW, 789-3599, 9 pm, $10, 21+)

Dave Segal is a journalist and DJ living in Seattle. He has been writing about music since 1983. His stuff has appeared in Gale Research’s literary criticism series of reference books, Creem (when...