SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 Radio Vago at Spaceland. Whether intoning morbid imprecations in Latin during "Intro (Yearly Note)" or exorcising the ghosts that infest her house on "Shotgun," lithe Radio Vago singer Adrienne Pearson is a charismatic presence who seems possessed herself. She twitches spasmodically, with theatrically grand gestures of her arms, as if working out some kind of inner trauma. Guitarist Jen Gillaspy and keyboardist Olivia Parriott eschew the usual boring chords for spectral, glimmering shards of sound that evoke, at times, the outer fringes of Wire and Joy Division, while anti-rock drummer Jenny Vassilatos and imperturbable bassist Nicole Fiorentino deconstruct the songs from unusual, No Wave angles. For all the gothic menace of "Mail Order Bride" and the baleful lyrics of "TV Guide" ("if it's true that God exists, why is Christ still dead today"), there are also some beguilingly lovely interludes, like the swirling, and-yes-ethereal reverie "Sophomore." With due respect to the awesome and elemental purity of the more hard-punk bands on the bill (Betty Blowtorch and San Francisco's Fabulous Disaster), Radio Vago are creating something that's different. LIke a new wave. (Falling James).