Rarely do Washington rockers sound this Midwestern. The Bismarck is a Seattle quartet of North Dakotan expats with a penchant for hard-hitting, hickory-smoked rock 'n' roll. It seems appropriate that they'll be playing Bob's Java Jive with a band called Wyoming Young and Strong (named for a line in that state's official song). And while the Bismarck shares rambunctious energy with Apache Chief, another band on the bill, they have a singular, ostensive interest in red-blooded Americana; the first word heard on their latest record Great Plains is a throatily-shouted "America!" and the song  "Not If You Were the Last Team Gina Fan on Earth" features the lyric, "Take me back to the Great Lakes/Take me back to red states/Take me back to the Midwest" (the title references - perhaps satirically - one of Seattle's lesbian hip-hop duos).

Guitarist Chris Jury explains that their songs are "character studies, and those characters often fit into the ‘Americana' tag."

"Growing up in the upper Midwestern hinterlands of North Dakota prior to the Internet boom taught us to be very liberal with (our) sense of humor while taking those shared experiences at a higher-than-normal face value," says bassist Nate Marshall, the band's only Tacoman. "In that light, things like flags, eagles and similar shit take on new meanings ... I blame Semiotics."

The Bismarck espouses a "Midwest work ethic and independent spirit," and Marshall clarifies what separates their DIY ethos from that of other underground self-starters - it comes down to a desire not to emulate the antics of bands who've bungled Midwestern concert dates.

"I can vividly remember bands going on tour and playing Grand Forks, Fargo or Bismarck and having one van full of indie darlings still be hours away from the show at door time because they partied too hard in Missoula or Minneapolis the night before ... and (yet) still have the grapes to overcharge for T-shirts and CDs," Marshall says.

To that end, the Bismarck have self-released all three of their albums, and keep it real with related acts like Police Teeth and the aforementioned metal-minded Wyoming Young and Strong (the latter is composed of two Josh's, both of whom hail from defunct group Lake of Falcons).

For artwork, Jury, Marshall and bandmates Dan Mohr and Eric Fundingsland have worked with chalk artist Andrea Trenbeath, herself an emigrant who left from Grand Forks, N.D. for Tacoma. As Marshall suggests, however, the band has some other (characteristically self-aware) ideas for their visual identity: "In a perfect world our record covers would have van art renditions of wizards and Aztec warriors fighting dinosaurs."

Now that I'd like to see.

The Bismarck

with Apache Chief, Wyoming Young and Strong, Kramer
Saturday, Feb. 12, 8 p.m., Price TBA
Bob's Java Jive, 2102 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma
253.475.9843