Maybe it’s the winter that’s got me thinking about roots, the way trees hunker down for six months of wind and ice cold and keep sucking at the dimmest glimmer of spring lodged deep within the frozen soil or the way we insulate ourselves indoors huddling close to things familiar. Maybe it’s because I’ve been listening to the Hammers of Misfortune “Fields Trilogy” near constantly lately. Whatever it is, the older we get, we seem irrevocably drawn back to the passions (sometimes poisons) of our past. Case in point, Eau Claire’s UFO Armada who are headlining a gig at the Bottle and Barrel (nope, not a typo) this Saturday. Within its ranks is one Brent K (he of the nasty and gnarly Desolate Void). Their sound is a two-fold return to roots, not only hearkening to the roster of indie rock bands (that actually rocked) on Amphetamine Reptile Records, but theirs is a sound that truly captures a golden age in Eau Claire’s musical history; these dudes wouldn’t have been out of place on a bill circa the mid 90s, playing with the likes of Three Liter Hit, Touch Is Automatic, Voodoo Love Mint, and Curious Jorge. No joke; check out their MySpace page for proof of some memorably potent tunes. Rounding out the evening is a performance by Minneapolis band Marijuana Death Squad (MySpace-less), whom I know next to nothing about, and further contributing to a welcomed sense of deja-vu is a performance by Chippewa Falls natives Romeo Vegas, who sound like a much tighter version of Curious Jorge if, maybe, Stephen was singing (seriously, RV are way cool and fully have this writer’s attention). This show is the closest thing you’re gonna get to time travel short of accidentally stepping in a worm hole. Show time is 10pm, and it’s friggin’ free. So what are you waiting for?