I recently read an interview with ex-Voidoids frontman Richard Hell, where he said the only interesting definition of punk is "evading the definition of punk." His quote stayed with me because it keeps the genre open to interpretation for a variety of acts making innovative, interesting music.

Last weekend, my One-Night Stand for the night canceled (there's a joke in there somewhere, I know), and I was left to review a band I've seen before--but I like their music so much, I'm using this space to talk about them anyway. A-Frames make the kind of punk that evades the definition of the word, landing somewhere in the scarred post- (but still punk-rooted) landscape. They're a band I've discovered recently, after being fortunate enough to see them play in such intimate places as vintage clothing store Double Trouble and Georgetown's Industrial Coffee.

When A-Frames (guitarist Erin Sullivan, bassist Min Yee, and drummer Lars Finberg) took the stage late Saturday night, the trio's music lingered in a dark, brooding space, heavy with the weight of restrained vocal emotion without leaving the audience cold. Between Finberg's concise drumming patterns and the low sonic vibrations coming from Sullivan and Yee, A-Frames emanated the same stark intensity that came out of acts like Wire and Joy Division, and they showed the ability to conjure an ominous vibe with precisely calculated moves.

For some of the good-natured drunks in the crowd, the band's pace wasn't quick enough, and I heard one girl quip, "Is this the lithium version?" after one particularly serious number. But I found the music very sensual--especially the song "Surveillance," about falling in love through a camera lens. After the show, the band was nice enough to give me a copy of its new, eponymously titled record, which includes "Surveillance," along with other great songs. If any of this sounds up your alley, I highly recommend picking up one of these limited-edition, vinyl-only releases (Fallout's sold out a couple times already) and adding A-Frames to the ever-growing list of local bands uniquely redefining this city's punk scope.