Lousy Robot plays power pop wherein the power isn’t always obvious. The songs are catchy but front man Jim Phillips’ lyrics bite harder than the music might lead you to believe. In other words, come for the hooks, stay for the poetry. It’s like buying a box of sugarcoated cereal and finding that the free prize inside is a weather-beaten diamond ring: It doesn’t need polishing and, like a battered “Antiques Roadshow” rarity, the appraisal would drop if the treasure were cleaned up.

Originating as the minimalist but striking Hey, Dandee! in 2003, the band has since stepped up its production values. Lousy Robot’s winningly modest debut The Strange and True Story of Your Life. was followed by the more complex Smile Like You Are Somewhere Else. The latest release, Hail The Conquering Fool (produced by long time associate John Dufilho of The Deathray Davies and The Apples In Stereo), is by contrast a rabid pop behemoth.

Mecca Records & Books, Jan. 16—This last-minute set was Rachel Lujan’s second-to-last Pan!c gig before moving to Denver. Because of the impromptu excitement, it wasn’t all triste like her final appearance two weeks later but pure PBR-fueled fun.

Just around the corner from Santa Fe Plaza, El Paseo Bar & Grill is not the most likely place in town to find garage rock. Enter Billy Miles Brooke, a musician whose past credits include glam cover band The Stardust Cowboys, a stage production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and some fine solo work. A couple of years ago, Brooke partnered with the establishment’s owner, Matt Chavez, to host the sporadic Indie Rocks series showcasing acts that normally wouldn’t make it to El Paseo’s usually sedate stage.