Friday, Sept. 4

Rudyard Kipling
422 W. Oak St.
636-1311
$8; 7:30 p.m.
www.lizzieandbaba.com

Merging a mishmash of styles is a tricky thing — but if it’s done right, it makes for a damn entertaining show. Singer-songwriter Lizzie West and her hubby Baba Buffalo blur the lines of ’20 cabaret with ’60s social activism. Her soft, sweet voice croons a playful tease in “Rope Me In and Smoke Me.” (Check out these lyrics: If you are gonna squeeze me, juice me and drink me/If you are gonna start me, finish the job/If you are gonna grope me, rope me in and smoke me/But baby just don’t leave me/drooling after dark.) And it’s the same voice that spurs politically charged caveats in “19 Miles to Baghdad” and “Call Your Senators.” Take a listen for yourself at www.myspace.com/lizzieandbaba — I guarantee Friday’s show at the Rud will not be boring. The Sirens open the show. —Sara Havens