If the punk movement was about tearing down the bloated, cliched foundation of popular music, then post-punk was the beginning of the steady rebuilding process. Like all manner of nebulous music terms, post-punk has come to mean a variety of different things to different people. Bands grouped into the post-punk genre vary wildly in style and sound - U2, XTC, Joy Division and the Cure are all bands that have carried the post-punk label at one time or another, though it'd be difficult to find a more diverse cross-section.

But, if we were to return to the most direct definition of post-punk, Nervosas is likely the type of band that you would picture. A minimalist trio of guitar, bass and drums, Nervosas embody the sort of band that might rise out of punk's late '70s pop decimation. At their core, Nervosas play straightforward, no-fucking-around punk that's heavy on charging drums and breakneck guitars. But there's tentative experimentation at play, the way that those first post-punk bands were relearning what music can be, once all the bullshit was stripped away.

Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full interview with Nervosas in the Music & Culture section.

NERVOSAS, w/ Overboard, Cult Evaders, 6 p.m., Sunday, March 9, Bob's Java Jive, 2102 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, $5, 253.475.9843