Manhattan Murder Mystery - despite taking their name from a light Woody Allen comedy - follows in the tradition of other lovably scuzzy acts like the Rolling Stones, J. Geils, the Replacements and countless other bands that revel in the smoke and the sound and the drink of a bleary, never-ending party. The band's highs are very high, and even its melodramatic lows ("I Always Think About Dying," for instance) chug along with the kind of goofy energy and raw bravado that belies the truly exceptional work of frontman Matthew Teardrop. It's the kind of music that inspires whiskey-fueled stomping, chanting, manly crying and all manner of unexpected bodily reactions. Even when the band slows things down briefly for a swaying excursion with "Smoky Mountain," the chorus explodes with the kind of full-throated spirit usually reserved for manic funerals.

NORTHERN, W/ HAPPY NOOSE, SHITTY WEEKEND, SEASONS, 8 P.M., $3, 414 ½ LEGION WAY, OLYMPIA