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During their blistering 70-minute set at New York City's Bowery Ballroom, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead did a lot to prove their indie cred. The band of the moment, on tour until April 17, stole poses from Kurt Cobain, Pete Townshend, and Joe Strummer; they lifted music from noise-punk pioneers--and, like punks, slammed them (guitarist-drummer Jason Reece, right, introduced "Homage" as "Unwound, Sonic Youth, the Slits, F--- You!"). They mooched a joint from the front row. They dove into the crowd with guitars and part of a drum set. Most notably, they largely ignored their Feb. 26 major-label debut Source Tags & Codes (Interscope) in favor of tracks from two prior indie CDs. Before the closer, the other guitarist-drummer, Conrad Keely (he and Reece switched off, once mid-song), dared fans to pelt them with trash. "You don't want us to go back to Austin and say New Yorkers are pussies, do ya?" There was no encore--the trail of destroyed instruments ensured that--but one die-hard fan was disappointed. "Man, they were tame tonight," he said. "They must be tired." B+
