The Nice Outfit

Formed from the core of Trolley, a once-prolific Milwaukee group that has mostly laid dormant for the past half-decade, the power-pop ensemble The Nice Outfit, who do a 9:30 p.m. show at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn tonight, picks up where that band left off, tightening and focusing its sound. Packing punchy punk-rock and gorgeous pop melodies into tight, jangly songs, they conjure The Kinks, The Buzzcocks and The Byrds on their recent EP, Kissing Jocelyn. Its four songs crackle with surprising turns and unusual conviction, even though they are constructed from the same classic ’60s-rock DNA that has resulted in so many lesser power-pop bands.