They only look out of control

This band is a party waiting to happen, the musical equivalent of Jeff Spicoli. But unlike Sean Penn's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" character, the free-spirited Seattle band Thee Emergency also has some brains, remarkable drive and a major plan.

Where Spicoli could barely make it out of his driveway, Thee Emergency — a mosh pit of garage rock and soul — drove all the way to Detroit to record its first full-length. "Can You Dig It?" was produced by Jim Diamond, famous for helping launch the White Stripes. Thee Emergency might not reach White Stripes-like fame, but they're moving in the right direction.

"I want to play every night," says Adm (as in "Adam") Taylor, the bass player who goes by the stage name Nick Detroit. "That's our goal: Go on tour and play every night."

And with that he exhaled, letting out an aromatic cloud from a homemade cigarette that was making the rounds of the basement. The band shares a house in the U District, which might be a recipe-for-disaster for most groups. But it works for this tight-knit, goal-oriented quartet, so broke it has a hard time scrounging poster money, let alone rehearsal space. Now, the house basement is the space where Thee Emergency — formerly The Emergency, recently adding the extra "e" to differentiate from other bands with the same name — can practice all it wants, for free. The other night, they worked on several new songs, still untitled.

"It's my job to name the songs," singer Zana "Dita Vox" Geddes sheepishly says. "I'm terrible at it."

She's good at what counts, though, and Geddes has emerged as a rising star on Seattle's music scene. With Mick Jagger attitude and a Tina Turner voice, the brash Geddes is hardly the only thing to watch with this wildly entertaining band. Guitar player Matt "Sonic Smith" Bracher and Taylor are rowdy attention-getters, flopping around on the floor, playing behind their backs, jumping and landing on their knees, skidding across the floor. (A video of the band playing "Can You Dig It?" can be seen on the record label Web site, www.bluedisguise.com, or at www.myspace.com/theeemergency.)

Even in the practice, they work on their grandstanding moves — Bracher playing guitar behind his head and drummer Tom "Tom T. Drummer" Meyers juggling his sticks during the song "Can You Dig It?" And yet there is a method to their madness — they go about the business of putting together a riotous show with calm seriousness.

The singer and bass player are from Auburn, where they dated before deciding to go the "just friends" route (another White Stripes parallel). Bracher, who grew up in West Seattle, and Meyers, an import from Colorado, played together in a previous band. "Adm's crappy punk band and my crappy punk band played on a show together in Tacoma. Then both our crappy bands broke up," the wild-haired Bracher says, explaining how Thee Emergency formed.

Thee Emergency first played as a band in February 2005, at Ballard's Bop Street Records, and soon after recorded a four-song demo/EP last year. KEXP fell in love with the song "Get It Up," and the band used the radio hook to book every show it could get between Tacoma and Bellingham, sometimes playing three or four shows a week.

The band has slowed down recently, though not by choice — the bigger clubs they are now playing encourage bands not to play more than once a month.

After a free show today at 4 p.m. at Northgate record store Silver Platters, Thee Emergency plays from its new CD at the Crocodile on Saturday with — typically — two shows: an all-ager at 5 p.m., followed by 21-and-over at 9 p.m. (each set $8).

It may surprise some that the CD isn't an all-out attack, but a studied, often thoughtful collection. The band mixes slow, mournful, mid-tempo numbers — notably the brilliant, album-closing "No Condemnation" — with raucous, sing-along blasters like "Get It Up," "Sweat Sex" and the title track.

Later this week, Thee Emergency takes off on a West Coast tour, returning to Seattle to play the Capitol Hill Block Party in late July, and Bumbershoot in early September.

• Talented singer Carrie Akre (Hammerbox, Goodness) and a 14-piece Neil Diamond tribute act called Cherry Cherry are on the bill for this weekend's Fremont Fair. For schedules and more info, visit www.fremontfair.com.

• Former grungers Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan get together for the Twilight Singers — Dulli's post-Afghan Whigs band — at 9 p.m. Saturday at Neumos ($13).

Dulli, now living in Los Angeles, is recording the Twilight Singers' "Powder Burns" in New Orleans, before and after Hurricane Katrina.

• The Baltic Room — a dance-oriented Capitol Hill spot — launches a live-music series with the sweet sounds of Johanna Kunin and Amy Blaschke at 9 p.m. Sunday ($6).

Tom Scanlon: tscanlon@seattletimes.com