The blues is an ephemeral spirit, writ brutally, in the hard and driving music of the band called People's Blues of Richmond, playing at Congress Street Social Club Friday the 8th. It's raw and it's dirty, blended with crazy Jack White psychedelia and an uncompromising, crawling kingsnake guitar and cheesy organ sound that reminds me of early Mothers of Invention records.

The guys' second album is Good Time Suicide, described (by the band) as “sonically recalling early Led Zeppelin, only weirder and with a modern sheen.”

The band is, you might have guessed, from Virginia, but not for nothing did they choose the name and what it says about them: Look closely, and you'll see the initials also stand for PBR.

At 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8.