After taking a break for a couple years, Tacoma's nerdiest native sons, the Cutwinkles, have returned to the stage. Having formed as students at SOTA, the Cutwinkles quickly bonded over an intense love of punk-rock and video games. The resulting amalgam is one of the most ridiculous and fun bands around. Their flippant disregard for writing songs about (almost) anything not related to classic video games approaches a bizarre kind of purity as each Mega Man or Mario reference flies jauntily by. Even on a song like "Making Out With Chicks" - a song ostensibly not concerned with Pac-Man - there is still that sugar-high vibe that can come from a delirious all-night gaming sesh. So grab a power-up, head to Hell's Kitchen and ... aw, shit, watch out for that ghost! 

[Hell's Kitchen, with Old Man Markley, the Fun Police, 8 p.m., no cover, 928 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.759.6003]