In this week’s agenda: Deleted Scenes, EmptyMansions, Goat, The Mean Season, Shabazz Palaces, and more.

The bar space at the Red Palace was warm and cozy last Thursday night, a haven when the rest of H Street was quiet, cold and covered in snow. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. members Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein sat at the bar, part of the crowd that came to escape the elements: Zott in a black sweatshirt, Epstein in a wool sweater. But later and upstairs, in the bar’s performance’s space, flashbulbs and makeshift flares illuminating their NASCAR suits, the two were a dynamic stage duo, commanding the room instead of fading into it.

Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott form Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., a Detroit band that burst onto the scene this summer with their insanely catchy, slightly ethereal Horse Power EP. But those three pop originals and a Beach Boys cover have garnered raves praising more than the band’s clever name. Don’t listen to critics calling them chillwave — theirs is a three-dimensional sound that doesn’t rely on effects and loops for its power. Epstein took some time to talk with DCist about their upcoming LP, the NASCAR jumpsuits he and Zott wear onstage and trusting his instincts.