Faux Fox: Faux Fox with Jetscreamer, Record Hop, and Night Game. Fri at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio, 411 E Sycamore, Denton. 940-387-7781. 4pm Sun at Good Records, 617 N Good Latimer, Dallas. 214-752-4663.

Goths: Ya gotta love 'em. In spite of being lampooned by Chris Kattan's "Azrael Abyss" character on SNL, goth culture's dark, melodramatic vibe keeps attracting the emotionally overwrought, black-fingernail-polish-wearin' youngsters as it has since the 1980s.

And like any musical style that survives a couple of decades, goth is currently enjoying a kind of revival. Last year, New York band Interpol scored a hit with what was essentially a simulacrum of Joy Division's hollow, joyless sound. Recently, it's become acceptable for musos at the local and national levels to namecheck and even cover the Cure, whose stock not so long ago had plummeted to the status of a bad hair joke. Next month, one-time MTV regulars Gene Loves Jezebel will bring their glammy psychodrama to West Berry for a stand at the Aardvark.

Then there's Faux Fox, a band of Dentonites (including a Baptist General) who've been together since 2001 and recently released their first full-length, Black Glove or White Glove; it's on their own Quartz, Inc. label (www.quartzinc.com). This Friday (the 13th, of course), they're headlining a "Goth Valentine's Day" show on their home turf, Rubber Gloves. (From the club's web site: "Smiling is optional, wearing black is not.") Their sound is all icy synth textures and mechanical-sounding beats -- reminiscent of Joy Division precursors like Ultravox and Gary Numan -- with singer George Quartz emoting over the top and, thankfully, enough pop sense to keep songs resonating long after the last note is struck.