There’s something distinctly old-fashioned about Cass McCombs, and not just because he perused outdated slang over an entire song on 2007’s excellent Dropping The Writ. From his crisply breathy vocals and meticulous fascination with language to his albums’ dry, baroque-folk backing, he often feels like a sharp-suited troubadour preserved in a sepia photograph on a mantelpiece somewhere. The effect is even more pronounced on his latest gem, Catacombs, which sees him brush gently against politics on “Don’t Vote” and a reliably creepy Karen Black on the opening “Dream-Come-True-Girl.” The latter and several other entries would fit snugly over a prom scene in a David Lynch film, at once chaste, perverse, and steeped in dread. Matching McCombs for low-key charm is Jason Quever, whose revolving-cast California band the Papercuts is finally getting national attention with You Can Have What You Want, a heavy-lidded affair that sounds a bit like vintage Zombies songs being dunked underwater for prolonged periods. Lovely stuff.

Sun., Sept. 6, 9 p.m., 2009