Asylum Street Spankers

The Asylum Street Spankers are God’s favorite band. Well, at least according to their MySpace page. We’ve never asked the One Above about His/Her musical preferences, but the Spankers would make for worthy candidates — that is, if God doesn’t mind parental advisory stickers.

The Austin sextet’s vaudeville-inspired country and blues tends to address topics ranging from boogers to genitals to politics with an R-rated wit. Some of the best numbers feature the Spankers’ left-wing musings on topics such as the war in Iraq (“Go stick another ribbon up your SUV / Stick your apathy up your passivity”) and the war on drugs (“Praise the Lord and pass a bong / We’re winning the war on drugs”).

The Spankers rose to fame on the Austin music scene and have been wowing critics from their hometown all the way to Rolling Stone magazine for more than a decade. Today’s two-show performance will be the band’s last before they head to New York to perform in the musical revue What? And Give Up Showbiz? at the Barrow Street Theatre. See them before they become Off-Off Broadway hits. 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk. For information, call 713-528-5999 or visit www.mcgonigels.com. $20.
Sat., Dec. 29, 7:30 & 10 p.m., 2007