When Levels make music, they do not fuck around. With compositions tight as a drum and volume knobs dialed in to "internal-organ-jostling," Levels approach a purity of alt-rock purpose that nears elegance. Even with the guitar onslaught, Levels never come close to anthemic. Sounding something like the fuzzy baby of Queens of the Stone Age and Depeche Mode, Levels seem to value a uniformity of mood that clouds everything in too much gloom to support any fist-pumping. Moshing, on the other hand, may come naturally when they take the tiny stage of the Java Jive. With the amps filling that little room with roaring guitars, it'd be hard not to have your knees buckle and tip you over, causing that domino effect that sucks everyone onto the floor.

LEVELS, w/ Shrouded in Veils, Cambrian Explosion, Myth of Progress, 8 p.m., Bob's Java Jive, 2102 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, $5, 253.475.9843