The Monolators have long been one of L.A.’s great lost bands. Led by the husband-and-wife team of singer-guitarist Eli Chartkoff and drummer Mary Chartkoff, the indie-garage tunesmiths have concocted alternately whimsical, silly, heartfelt and beautiful songs that marry the spirit of Jonathan Richman with punk, garage and art rock. The Monolators rarely emerge from their Eastside lair these days, but when they do, it’s always a fantastic spectacle and circus onstage, such as when the group reunited for a momentous, energetic set at Polartropica’s residency at the Bootleg earlier this year. Early classics like the surging pop anthem “Strawberry Roan” fit right in alongside such spectral and Velvets-y passages as “Let’s Be Best Friends in Space,” from The Monolators’ aptly titled collection Ten Years of Tears. With Soft Sailors and Saint Heartbreak.

Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Blvd., L.A.; Wed., Dec. 11, 8:30 p.m.; $10; ages 21 & over. (213) 389-3856, www.bootlegtheater.org/e/the-monolators-73777774309.

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