The Key

For some bands, “having fun” is the ultimate end goal, a paramount concern that takes precedence over both commercial success and artistic achievement. For others, “having fun” is just another trite phrase slapped onto a publicist’s one-sheet, an obvious attempt to sell potential fans on the image of a band composed of regular people who simply enjoy a good time and like to rock out. Then there are bands like Fang Island, in whose music “having fun” is so fully ingrained that its sincerity can not be doubted—and its infectiousness can only be resisted by the most curmudgeonly curmudgeon. The Brooklyn-based, power-prog-pop quintet even kicks off its self-titled debut (released in February by Sargent House) with the sound of fireworks—which is not so much an indicator of the album being a collection of instantly gratifying party-rock songs as it is a joyous celebration of everything smartly written pop should be. Sure, that might sound like a bunch of overearnest gushing, but…OK, so it is a bunch of overearnest gushing. But that’s just the effect songs such as “Daisy,” “Life Coach,” and “Treeton” can have on a listener willing to set his or her musical cynicism aside for few minutes. Fang Island performs with Delicate Steve at 7:30 p.m. at First Unitarian Church; tickets to the all-ages show are $12.

Also playing: The Legendary Pink Dots + David E. Williams at M Room (8 p.m., 21+, $20); Junip + Sharon Van Etten at World Cafe Live (8 p.m., $21-$28)