When a band plays behind a neon jesus saves sign in a punk-rock dive like the Sidebar, odds are it's not going to sing any sincere odes to our lord and savior. So when local threesome the Matrimonials displayed their propensity for potty mouth lyrics with goofy tunes such as "My Baby's Got Scabies," it wasn't exactly a shock. In fact, the band's set on Tuesday night probably would've benefited from toning down on the dirty jokes, and focusing on the tight power-trio dynamics of the band's drummer and two guitarists, all of whom sang. But then, given the band members' remarks that they're used to being much more drunk onstage than they were, perhaps the Matrimonials weren't rowdy enough. Either way, even their most juvenile ideas were accompanied by surprisingly tuneful riffs, and it doesn't sound like they're too far off from becoming a great band, or at least a great joke band.

The single non-local act on the bill, Ohio trio the Sundresses, quickly made themselves at home on the Sidebar stage with some chooglin' blues rock, and the band's frontman looked almost starstruck to be playing in a room where a few scenes from The Wire had been shot. When he announced, a few songs in, that the drummer would sing a song, it was easy to be afraid that the nice groove the band had going would be upset by the instrument swap. But it turned out that the Sundresses happened to have a second, equally capable frontman, one who played a mean slide guitar and sang some of the combo's best songs, including, "An American American."

Tuesday's bill wound up with another rootsy, raucous band, Thee Lexington Arrows (which includes City Paper contributing illustrator Alex Fine), a local quartet that I pretty much never get tired of seeing. As usual, the band blazed through their repertoire in just over a half hour, with the driving hooks of "Don't Come Around" being a highlight, while frontwoman Kathleen Wilson sang and strummed, occasionally twisting her ankles and dancing in place in front of the microphone. The Arrows pull off such an effortless rock-star sneer that it feels like they deserve to play to much bigger crowds. But as long as they continue to play sparsely attended weeknights at the Sidebar, I'll keep showing up.

Email Al Shipley