B Boys, "Can’t Stand It" (Captured Tracks)

It turns out that Wire's 1977 debut LP, Pink Flag, still has some juice from which today's rock bands can draw sustenance. Another case in point is deceptively named New York trio B Boys (Andrew Kerr, Brendon Avalos, Britton Walker). Like the Gotobeds, Tyvek, and Parquet Courts, B Boys strike gold by writing concise songs that bristle with anger, but also sucker-punch you with surprisingly catchy tunes. The melodic beauty is all the more cherishable because it's eking through the cranky clamor and Ian MacKaye-esque declamatory barks. Their 2019 sophomore album, Dudu, relentlessly pumps adrenaline through your system, filling listeners with the energy we're going to need to march on the White House, before Putin's puppet finishes his demolition job on democracy.

For all of Dudu's structural tightness, though, "Can't Stand It" is its most expansive track—and second longest at 3:44. Like the Velvet Underground's "I Can't Stand It," B Boys' "Can't Stand It" offers powerful catharsis simply through the emphatic refrain of its title. It's a headlong chugger whose rolling and tumbling momentum and urgent cascade of blue-gray guitar chimes are ideal for motivating you get important shit done—or, just as importantly, to spur you to run, bike, walk, and/or row faster. As many folks are reaching peak fed-upness with US politics, songs such as "Can't Stand It" help get us through the day, with a vengeance. Check it out after the jump.

B Boys perform Wednesday, July 31 at Chop Suey with Bodega and Antonioni.