Now that Afro-pop has been whittled down to homages to Paul Simon and the sporting of boat shoes—as if Africa weren’t thousands of miles away but located among the mansions of Newport—Holland’s the Ex brings its old boots stateside for a stinging and swinging corrective. The Ex will be performing with legendary Ethiopian saxophone player Getatchew Mekuria. The sax man began playing in the ’60s and has his roots in both free jazz and more traditional Ethiopian sounds; he’s famous for inventing a musical style called the “Shellele,” which originates from a war chant. The Ex has long muddied its post-punk shredding with cultural exchanges, and the Ex-Mekuria relationship includes a spate of touring and recording 2007’s thrilling Moa Anbessa. The Ex altered its sound only slightly on that album; Mekurya and the Ex go all out (for precedents, think Ginger Baker and Fela Kuti), casting out a sound that’s as thumping as it is funky. THE EX AND GETATCHEW MEKURIA PERFORM WITH SHORTSTACK AT 8 P.M. AT THE BLACK CAT, 1811 14TH ST. NW. $15. (202) 667-4490.