As I've said before, the hunt for nostalgia in contemporary music has been both a blessing and a curse, as bands have found and emulated long-forgotten artists and influences to varying degrees of success. At its worst, this kind of emulation comes across as the pandering output of those who can't create their own path. This pattern has found itself firmly represented in the psychedelic revival. But, at its best, these nostalgia-mongers can bring out everything that was great about these lost sounds, while managing to carve out their own special niches. Rose Windows is particularly good at riding that line, as they evoke the sounds of American and British psychedelia of the late '60s, while also incorporating elements of proto-metal acts like the Gun and Black Sabbath, even managing to emulate those earlier psych bands' cannibalizing of world music. Murky waters, indeed.

ROSE WINDOWS, w/ La Luz, Happy Noose, 8 p.m., Northern, 414 ½ Legion Way, Olympia, $5