Drop Electric’s sophomore effort Waking Up to the Fire trades the dramatic, instrumental post-rock soundscapes from Finding Color in the Ashes for glitchier electronic tracks.

Drop Electric are out to overwhelm their listeners. They’ve abandoned the ambient electronica of their past work and now sound like Mogwai, if Mogwai’s M.O. was to make people dance. Yet, there’s a subtlety to the emotional response their music evokes. Patrick Ryan Morris toys with the film clips projected behind the band and singer Kristina Reznikov sings with more of a deadpan than a shout. This makes for an unsettling but rewarding experience, as if the listener has started to sleepwalk through a dark art house film.

Drop Electric performing last year at the Rock and Roll HotelDrop Electric has long been committed to social issues, performing regularly at benefit events and donating their proceeds to local charities. While the band has been concentrating on out-of-town and festival dates in recent months, on Saturday they will return to the Rock and Roll Hotel to headline an eclectic bill. True to form, the night’s proceeds will benefit Empower DC, a community organizing…

Drop Electric vocalist Padma Soundararajan and bassist Neel Singh performing earlier this year at the Rock and Roll Hotel Drop Electric was no different from many a local band. They played the occasional festival, headlined local clubs, and were on their way to garnering a decent local following. But their story took a tragic turn last month, and the band is still trying to recover. The family of vocalist Padma Soundararajan — her father,…