FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 The Starvations and the Chicken Hawks at the Garage. The Starvations use the same barre and folk chords as a million other garage-punk bands, but they invest each blurry strum with a controlled desperation and heat-seeking passion that makes their new CD, A BLACKOUT TO REMEMBER (Revenge), one of the most satisfying rock & roll debuts of the year. Howling with an ambivalently drunken fury into the hurricane racket kicked up masterful drummer Ian Harrower, singer-guitarist Gabriel "Scarecrow" Hart exudes much of the same raw-voiced soul as the Saints' Chris Bailey on the rootsy jangle "Curse of the Loner" and "Girl of Stone." Ryan Hertz's sidewinding slide guitar on "Whorelove" casts an eerie Gun Club shadow over the Starvations' frantic hell-hounds-on-their-trail tempos, and unexpectedly literate ravers "Church of the Doublecross" and "You Ruined X-Mas" match up well with a properly sodden cover of the Pogues' "Boys From County Hell." Iowa's Chicken Hawks are even more stripped-down and trashy, with pulchritudinous lead singer Betsy Phillips and contrastingly impassive bassist Tammy Gunn prowling the stage sheathed in fishnets and bad attitudes, as guitarist Pete Phillips carves out chaotic, jagged riffs while lying flat on his back. The Chicken Hawks return to their former, temporary L.A. hometown with a slew of new songs, as well as minimalist, sexy rants "Stick It In," "Fuck Minneapolis" and "Tornado" from their SIOUXICIDE CITY album on RAFR. (Falling James)