Nothing like a straight up rock 'n' roll show -- with a dollop of pop thrown in -- to help one recover from the indie rock blahs. Coolfer caught LA quartet Tsar at the formerly dreaded Mercury Lounge last night and it was hands down the best show of the four I've seen. (Two of them have been confirmed by singer Jeff Whalen -- a Gaucho no less -- as among the worst in the band's history. Lucky me.) In short, Tsar was fantastic, energetic, and by the end drenched in sweat. The set was tight, rarely broken for anything more than a quick guitar tuning. The debut album is a power pop gem. Tsar now has more of a sneer. The pop is still there but rock is more prominant.

New Yorkers are lucky. You'll have a chance to see them on August 11th when they hit Rothko with another Coolfer fave, Bona Roba.

Tsar released its second album, Bands-Girls-Money, on TVT just a few weeks ago. Last night's set was dominated by the new album but unlike their last show at Pianos we got a few songs from their incredible 2000 self-titled debut (released and blown by Hollywood Records), "Calling All Destroyers" and "I Don't Wanna Break Up."

Village Voice music editor Chuck Eddy, who had previously raved about Tsar's 7" single released a while back on Birdman, called Bands-Girls-Money "what may well be ’05’s most consistently catchy hard pop-rock album" in his concert preview on Wednesday. He ain't crappin' you negative.

Check Coolfer's Tsar pictures at Flickr.