BUZZ BANDS

Natty and naughty

Check your high-mindedness at the door. Clear Static is back in town, natty suits all pressed, eyeliner just so and debut album now on the shelves for Jack Daniel’s-swigging clubgoers who party like it’s 1979.

The L.A. quintet, all ages 20 to 22, first sent Sunset Strip devotees diving into their mothers’ (or grandmas’) closets for feather boas a couple of years ago. A surprise gig opening on Duran Duran’s 2005 tour foreshadowed the band’s signing to Maverick Records, and now a few more months on tour have affirmed a long-held suspicion: People like to dance.

“There’s always a need for party music,” says guitarist Michael David, who writes most of the band’s songs with singer Tom Pederson. “There’s room for it because so many bands are taking themselves so seriously -- it’s great to be making those kinds of statements, but it’s good to make music people can dance to too.”

Except for the album’s modern production flourishes, Clear Static’s take on the form doesn’t stray too much from flamboyant forebears such as the Fixx or the Human League. Add big hooks, oh-so-naughty themes (like the single “Make-Up Sex”) and faux-tortured vocals, and Clear Static gets the bodies moving.

“This tour probably exceeded our expectations,” David says of the reception he, Pederson and band mates Danny Kincaid, Rich Pederson and Jacob Shearer have gotten. “People know the words, dress up like the kids in the videos.... It’s been amazing.”

That tour, with L.A. electro-poppers Shiny Toy Guns and Chicago’s Kill Hannah (whose new album is due in August), visits the Key Club tonight.

What’s coming out

The local artists’ shelves are filling up, and so is the calendar of shows celebrating releases:

* Brash and soulful and crackling with moxie thanks to Lisa Kekaula’s vocals, the BellRays’ latest, “Have a Little Faith,” gets a proper introduction when the quartet performs Friday at L.A.’s newest venue, Safari Sam’s (5214 Sunset Blvd.).

* The Aggrolites’ first collection of reggae party anthems for Hellcat Records came out this week. The quintet does an in-store at Amoeba Music on Tuesday, then rocks the Knitting Factory on May 28.

* Speaking of parties, Whitestarr’s classic rock group hug “Luv Machine” comes out Tuesday, and the Sunset Strip denizens have an in-store that day at Tower Records and a show that night at the Roxy.

* At once stark and quirky, singer-songwriter Tom Brosseau’s new album is titled “Empty Houses Are Lonely.” He’ll play Friday at Tangier.

* Capitol Records signee Annie Stela, a singer-pianist, celebrates the release of her EP “There Is a Story Here” on Wednesday at the Hotel Cafe.

* And the Colour toasts the upcoming release of its “Devil’s Got a Holda Me” EP with a show Tuesday at the Galaxy Theatre.

Fast

forward

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has been nailed down as one headliner for Sunset Junction Street Fair in Silver Lake on Aug. 26 and 27. The rest of the three-stage lineup is still being assembled.... Deccatree might have gotten the ax from Atlantic Records in late 2004, but the Anaheim band is still going strong. The group, which performs tonight at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, was one of the big winners in last month’s Orange County Music Awards, which also honored Victory Season Pills with two awards. Other winners included White Noise, Listen, Michael Ubaldini and even veteran ska-reggae outfit the Skeletones -- in the world music category. The Skeletones just released their latest album, “Bump.” ... The Bangles charmed a preschool benefit in Silver Lake on Saturday, with warmup by the Eugene Edwards Band. Nothing like 5-year-olds doing cartwheels in a sandy mosh pit.... Impressive set last week by Sacramento’s An Angle -- and not just because of the band’s tasteful use of horns. It was amazing it could fit all eight players (including three toting brass) on the Viper Room stage.... New Dangerbird Records signees Darker My Love had to cancel two shows Tuesday after drummer Andy Granelli was struck by a car while riding his bicycle and suffered a broken arm and broken ribs.

-- Kevin Bronson

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* Stream “Make-Up Sex” by Clear Static at www.myspace.com/clearstatic

* Stream “When They Came for Us” by Shiny Toy Guns at www.purevolume.com/shinytoyguns

* Stream Kill Hannah’s “Lips Like Morphine” at www.myspace.com/killhannah