Black Lipstick, 10 pm Fri at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 E Sycamore St, Denton. $6. 940-387-7781.

To say Austin's Black Lipstick was influenced by the Velvet Underground would be a vast understatement. The sing-speak monotone vocals, the minimal melodies, the sex-and-drugs lyrics ("I wake every morning with torn underwear"), the chick drummer -- all recall Lou Reed's underground New York. Adding to the VU effect is the band's customary stage dress: shades and tight black jackets or trench coats.

But that's not all. Black Lipstick's cool retro-pop also is indebted to Television, early Talking Heads, and the Modern Lovers. There's some Alex Chilton in there, too. Yet the group's biggest influence is guitarist Phillip Neimeyer and keyboardist Travis Higdon's previous band, the attitude-laden Kiss Offs. The Austin indie band was adored as much for their tongue-in-cheek pyrotechnic stage shows as for their noisy, new-wave-tinged garage punk. Black Lipstick is less rebellious and raucous, but has retained Kiss Offs' swagger and ironic wit.

It's that swagger and wit that keep Black Lipstick from being labeled a nostalgia band. The group members wear their bohemian inspirations proudly, but the result is post-millennial. To quote from "Our Gilded Thrones" (whose vocals you'd swear were dubbed by Jonathan Richman), Black Lipstick is "20 years behind but 50 years ahead."