MYSHKINS

You gotta wonder if the Prince Myshkins were pissed when Mojo Nixon came back to San Diego recently, the latter being the grand pooba of madman political acoustic songs. While Mojo was out in Texas ranting about Bush, the two gents in the Myshkins filled his hole damn well. They lambasted our city council in “Harbor Song” for reneging on an artist hired to beautify the boats in the harbor: “Some boats are tasteful but these are just smut, it's time for the funds to be cut.” In “You and Me and Tom” they tackled the sticky familial exercise of telling pops you're a queer: “Tell them you're broke, tell them you smoke, tell them you're joining the Viet Cong, tell them you're dead and you're inbred, and you've decided that Rush is wrong, you've joined a cult of wise fakirs who only eat beans, you've found a promising career in porn magazines in New Orleans, tell them you're Noam Chomsky's protégée, tell them you're anything else but gay.” They've served as KPBS' resident satirists, scored a few local plays and taught workshops around town on songwriting, poetry and theater. And live, their acoustic cabaret songs are a poignant hoot, built for the age of our council's disrepute. The Prince Myshkins perform with David Rovics and Alfred Howard in a benefit for the San Diego Independent Media Center at the Che Café, 8 p.m. on Jan. 27. $7. 858-534-2311.