SO TOUGH

Dubby post-punk legends the Slits played here earlier in the month at Chloë Sevigny’s invite-only Fashion Week party, but the screechy Brits have kindly returned to perform at Mercury Lounge tonight for people who have actually heard of them. The Slits were formed out of the flourishing 1976 London punk scene by vocalist Ari Up, guitarist Viv Albertine, bassist Tessa Pollitt, and drummer Palmolive, and although the band broke up in 1981, their debut album, Cut, with its raw aesthetic, experimental reggae-punk sound, and biting lyrics would become an iconic Brit-punk work and inspire many a future riot grrl. Up and Pollitt formed a revamped crew in 2006 and released their first work in 25 years, the EP Revenge of the Killer Slits. They’ve stuck close to their roots, too: new member Hollie Cook is the daughter of Sex Pistol Paul Cook (who contributed to Revenge), and Up is the stepdaughter of Johnny Rotten. (Whoa!) Their latest EP, Hated, is out this month. With pop-punk noiseniks Shellshag.
Wed., March 5, 9:30 p.m., 2008