Francis 7

Not unlike Richard Jordan's Sandman character in Logan's Run, there is something sexy about Miami's long-running New Wave/postpunk luminaries that creeps out from around the corners of well-crafted songs. Multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer Omar Cuellar has been around for God knows how long with the on-again, off-again Francis 7 project. In 2001, though, he began shaping a concrete performing band by adding bassist Dan Escauriza and second guitarist Trey Hammond. The bandmates then searched for drummers (for there are fewer and fewer each day) while they soldiered on with a drum machine, but the addition of Ralph Sangiovanni last year brought it all full circle. While there might be a lot of hoopla over the whole shoegazer/postpunk thing going around, at least Cuellar is the real deal: reared in the Eighties and steeped in the local scene. Maybe a full-length recording in the near future could be possible since he has beaten the life-clock. This evening of carousel will also feature the mastery of Baby Calendar and Jorges, the dreamy pop of the Panic and the Monday Photo, as well as the hard-edge rock of the Stop Motion and the rock-and-roll punk of the Bittercups.