Family Entertainment

In addition to fruitcake and Carrot Top, the list of history's true horrors includes the advent of the slideshow party — how many tortured souls have been subject to the interminable boredom, bordering on complete madness, of three carousels of Uncle Morty's trip to the Grand Canyon? Thank heavens for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, who go a long way toward righting that wrong. More of an art project than a band per se, the New York-via-Seattle quirk-pop trio comes off like a cross of They Might Be Giants, The Partridge Family, and Found magazine: Dad Jason sings and plays guitar and keyboards; daughter Rachel, 13, plays drums; and all the while, mom Tina (who also sings) projects vintage slides of family vacations and other assorted weirdness on a big screen — slides that the nattily costumed Trachtenburgs have stumbled upon at garage sales, thrift stores, and flea markets, and that have inspired songs such as the ones found on their recently reissued Adventures in Middle America, Volume II. Uncle Morty would be blown away.

Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players and Ching Chong Song perform Saturday, December 16, at Studio A, 60 NE 11th St., Miami. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $15. Call 305-358-ROCK, or visit www.studioamiami.com.