Back in business Reissues by Arab On Radar, Velvet Crush, and more BY BOB GULLA

Even though the local music scene consists to a large degree of bands that crystallize and evaporate without making much of a mark, some manage to leave a permanent impression — tire marks across the city that won’t ever go away. To do so, a band typically has to explode on impact, come out with both guns blazing (to employ two clichés), and ride it out for a few years. Most bands, even nationally, can’t get that done. But in this clutch of reissues, here are some of the artists that did.

Arab On Radar: The Stolen Singles (Three One G, originally issued from 1995-2002)

A typical bunch of sick, squealin’ shit that sounds like Gang of Four as envisioned through the bloodshot eyes of Six Finger Satellite. This disc collects the band’s insane singles over a seven-year period, from early work like the geeky "Inventor" through white-hot mid-period junk like "Miss American Hair Pie," to the swooning, deal-ending "Running for Asthma." Like everything AOR did, this set is scorching, mind-boggling, and totally off its rocker.

Jeff Keithline: Lucky Guy (Wigwax, originally issued in 1989)

If Jeff Keithline is a lucky guy, (and, no, I can’t corroborate this), it’s for at least one reason: the guy can write tuneful songs. He proved so back in the early ’80s with his launching-pad band Silverado, who recorded three discs for RCA. In the meantime he played with Steppenwolf, Tom Waits, Dave Mason, and others before cutting loose and going it alone. Lucky Guy, Jeff’s solo debut, came out back in 1989. It’s a half-dozen cool, good-humored songs full of crack performances, melody, and solid, organic production. Also, check out Jeff Now, Keithline’s 2001 follow-up.

Velvet Crush: Free Expression (Action Musik, originally issued in 1999)

The string of Crush reissues continues with ’99’s demi-classic Free Expression. Falling just short of the band’s major label debut, Teenage Symphonies to God (is that a great name for an album or what?), this one is a remastered and expanded version of the original Matthew Sweet production. It’s packaged with a second disc of demos that, at least for the Crush completist (which it seems like I’ve become over the years), make the listening experience even sweeter. Chiming guitars, sublime melodies, and vintage electricity all result in great pop music and a super-welcome addition to the Crush oeuvre.

Neutral Nation

Mike Yarworth, Dave Chabot, Tom Buckland, and Mike Neckritz dominated the local punk and post-punk scenes back in the ’80s like a suffocating defense blanketing their audiences. But even though they knocked folks flat ’round here, they were never really able to take their act to a wider audience. Throughout their career, NN disseminated monster cables of noise that rattled with positive energy. They still like to get together once in a while for ol’ time’s sake — if for nothing else at least a little sonic therapy. This reissue, simply titled Neutral Nation (after dismissing a working title of Greatest Shits), compiles in on two discs the band’s immense (by Rhody standards) punk legacy.

Delinquents: Wanted by FBI (Rock of Eighties, originally issued in 1981)

Though they were before my club-going time, the Delinquents were, by all counts, a notable act around Providence in the years following the outbreak of punk. As the liner notes explain, "Conceived in a post-drunken hangover, the Delinquents stumbled onto the Rhode Island disco club scene. Dubbed the band you love to hate, the boys refused to compromise and paid the ultimate price, rock & roll obscurity." Ain’t that a familiar story? Wanted is the band’s complete recorded output — a sort of Buzzcocks meets the Stones sound — including the unreleased final single, remastered for posterity.

SQUEEZE PLAY. What’s that annoying sound coming from downtown? No, it’s not bagpipes. Actually, it’s the Rock Accordion Summit, going down at AS220 this Saturday night (the 10th), booked and assembled by the Benjamin Ickies Preservation Society. The event features well-known and notorious button-pushers like Matt Everett, Corn Mo, Thee Alec K Redfearn and Matt McLaren Duo, the World/Inferno Friendship Societym and Ickies’s outfit. The latest addition to the bill is Stupid, an Oscar-nominated (Best Soundtrack, Jimmy Neutron) pop-punk band from Brooklyn with a guy named Dana Ehrlich on accordion.

Now, I don’t know about you, but that sounds like an awful lot of bellows and button pushing, more than I’m accustomed to hearing in say, an entire decade. But I’m told that it’s a concert showcasing real rock bands playing high-energy music without a lot of that smoky, Berlin cabaret cheese. The Rock Accordion Summit (aka the Punk Accordion Summit) descended upon New York City last August and played a sold-out show in the East Village, the four acts convincing a jaded hipster crowd that the squeezebox does indeed rock. Plus it’s a new year and, what the hell, why not try something new? The show starts at 9 p.m. and costs $10. Call 831-9327.

WANDERING EYE. The Psycads are pleased to announce a show on Friday (the 9th) at the Century Lounge with an early start time of 9 p.m. So make your plans now for some reggae vibes. Cats in Pawtucket features a Friday billing starring Hemlock, Suicide Dream, and the awe-inspiring Rebecca Nurse. Mastamindz will appear at the Knights of Columbus in Burrillville on Friday. The first 300 to arrive are the only ones getting in, so be early. The show starts at 8 p.m. sharp. For details, check out www.mastamindz.com. Metal Rising plays the 305 Club on Saturday (the 10th) with A Blind Prophecy.

Black Forest/Black Sea, a guitar/cello/electronics duo, is leaving Providence for a long European tour covering four months, 17 countries, and 70-odd performances. Come send the band off Saturday night at the Green Room. Eyesores and Dresden Dolls will be also there.

The Chilblains will be making its big, first-time-ever-on-the-planet debut on Sunday (the 11th) at AS220. They’ll be opening for International Pen Pal and Paper Thin Stages (from Boston) and the show starts at 10 p.m. The Chilblains sound is in the jangly/roots-pop area.

For those of you planning a cross-country trip this weekend, arriving in LA on Saturday sometime, you can check out Ruin the Ending, formerly Providence’s Freakshow. They are playing their first show at the world famous Whisky-a-Go-Go. If you can’t get there in time, think good thoughts for Hamel and the boys. This is good stuff that could create some promising possibilities.

Pete Rock is booking Thursdays at Cats. Next week (1/15), catch Backwoods, Suicide Dream, Metal Rising, New Blood (ex-Johnny Wisebone), and Loudchild. Check out www.peterockenterprises.com.

On Saturday, things really heat up at the Blackstone River Theatre. Atwater-Donnelly return to present their traditional American and Celtic American folk songs. The gig starts at 8 p.m. and costs $12. Then on Sunday, in a show running from 2 to 5 p.m., Irish Ceili and Set Dance take the stage — or should I stay rip that sucker up with some savage footwork. The Alleged Ceili Band plays a variety of traditional and contemporary Irish dance music as Laura Travis, host of WRIU’s In the Celtic Realm show, begins by teaching Irish ceili dances. Then from 3 to 5 p.m., there will be continuous dancing without instruction. The ACBand features Bob Drouin on fiddle, Ron Lister on concertina, Chuck Papini on tenor banjo, Jay Gilbert on guitar, Tony Gutierrez on fiddle, Josh Kane on whistle, and Marianne Kane on bodhran. Like everything at BRT, the emphasis is squarely on fun. Call 725-9272 for details.

E-mail me with your music news at big.daddy1@cox.net .