For a decade, the rough-and-tumble Florida punk-rock quartet Hot Water Music swam against the rising tide of mainstream pop-punk, earning the respect of the worldwide underground-music community and nearly single-handedly fashioning the raw, cathartic style that's become known as "the Gainesville sound."

It came as a shock to many earlier this year when the band announced an indefinite hiatus due to founding member Chuck Ragan's desire to get off the road for a while. Thankfully, it took all of about 15 minutes for the three remaining members — Chris Wollard, Jason Black and George Rebelo — to start up an interim group called The Draft, which now boasts an additional member, Todd "Wonderboy" Rockhill.

This Saturday marks The Draft's first Bay area appearance, a sure-to-be-packed Orpheum gig that also features a couple of other out-of-town Florida bands: the inventive, visceral project True North and the quirky-but-cool Beat Buttons. Those who haven't heard any of The Draft's material (four songs are up for online perusal at myspace.com/thedraftmusic) needn't worry — the sound is a little more streamlined and overtly melodic, but definitely recalls the more anthemic, less experimental fare of HWM.

This article appears in Dec 7-13, 2005.