Fri, March 12, Lasher Keen

Nevada City three-piece Lasher Keen, who just put out an album called Wither, have typecast themselves as “wood metal for Scandinavian tree troll folk.” And come to think of it, I guess that’s not so much stereotyping as it is blowing up the pigeonhole. Lasher Keen does so with violins, whistles, banjos, drums, mandolins and various experimental-folk sounds. Like on their track “Altes Vogelherz,” which also includes strange hooting and howling, perhaps human, maybe animal. But the lyrics are in German. Strange; the foothills will never be the same. Or Midtown, where they play Friday; In the Silence opens. 1050 20th Street, www.myspace.com/lasherkeen.