MATT DRISCOLL: THE WOOLLY BANDITS >>>

If you like a show â€" and I mean a real, live, going to leave you talking about it for days show â€" you’re going to dig The Woolly Bandits.

Sure, the Bandits have the ‘60s inspired, go-go boot clad, garage rock ethos down pat â€" but there’s more to this band than just sound. The Woolly Bandits are a full package â€" sonic vibrations and coolly crafted image, shaggy haircuts and style to spare.

Led by bass player Rik Collins â€" whose amazingly talented and captivating wife, Christa, takes the roll of Nancy Sinatra eat your heart out, vocal dynamo for the band â€" The Woolly Bandits are Tiki lounge cool mixed with rock ‘n’ roll punch. Originally a backing band for underground rock legend Sky Saxon of “the Seeds” fame (who recently passed away), the Woolly Bandits have been shaped by the style of rock ‘n’ roll past, but are very much a creature of rock ‘n’ roll present.

If you’re skeptical, try checking out the band’s most recent recorded effort, Woman of Mass Destruction, released by Citation Records. It’s an alluring concoction â€" with tinges of Saxon’s Seeds mingling with Cramps vibes, psychedelia and psychobilly â€" and a record that should legitimately intrigue listeners.

“You know I really feel like he’s with us,” says Collins of Saxon and his influence on the Woolly Bandits â€" a band moniker actually taken from one of Saxon’s nicknames. “Actually (it’s) not difficult (to go on tour so shortly after Saxon’s death) because I know Sky would not stop and never did.”

“The vision has always been based on what I would want to see at a show and incorporating the strengths of each member,” says Collins of his master plan for Woolly Bandit. “There is also this big uncontrollable factor and that’s exciting to me too. You see that in our live show.”

Or at least you will if you’re at the Jive on Friday.

[Bob’s Java Jive, with Minirex, Kaliningrad, Moonspinners, Friday, July 3, 8 p.m., $5, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253.475.9843]

Photo: Tomas Muscionico