Die Antwoord hitting House of Blues

They're cartoon characters drawn outside the lines, crude as a first-grader's penmanship.

South African hip-hop trio Die Antwoord seem as if they sprung from the overactive imaginations of trash art fetishists such as John Waters and Harmony Korine (the latter even directed one of their videos, fittingly enough).

They speak, sing, rap and swear (sometimes simultaneously) in the slang of Zef, a counterculture movement among working class whites that seeks to turn the tables on what is seen as a less-than-desirable status by embracing it.

Frontman Ninja, skinny, tattooed, nearly always shirtless, spits overheated, overenunciated rhymes while fellow MC, Yo-Landi Vi$$er, a similarly sinewy blonde with what looks like a self-cut mullet, squeaks with childish glee like a fork-tongued 4-year-old.

Together with DJ Hi-Tek, they harness the massive synth lines and warp-speed beats of the most frenetic electronic dance music in service of a ceaselessly profane and infectious celebration of impoverished empowerment.

Their latest disc, "Ten$ion," is a riot of completely unbounded sound, dizzy, punch drunk and just plain drunk.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.