July 1- 7, 2004

musicpicks

Honeychurch

ROCK/POP

Honeychurch loves you. I know, you've been down this road with other bands, but they really mean it. For one thing, their new album Makes Me Feel Better (Siren) ends with a song called "Honeychurch Loves You," which sounds like something Burt Bacharach might have cooked up in a three-way with Brian Wilson and Micky Dolenz — not that this band is into kinky shit, mind you. Shilough and Larissa Hopwood, the nexus of an ever-changing lineup, may have recorded their second album "at home" in Doylestown, but as bedroom recordings go, it's surprisingly lush and spacious; they must have crammed a string section in the closet. Of course, they know there'll be some rough patches: Every so often, the Hopwoods' flawless harmonies slip just slightly out of sync, as if to acknowledge that singing in key doesn't solve every problem. (Just ask Dolly Parton and Ralph Stanley, whose songs mesh perfectly with Shilough's originals.) But even the sad stuff fulfills the title's promise. Besides, if they didn't love you, would they have made you something this beautiful?

Tue., July 6, 9 p.m., $8, with the Suspicions, Tibberius and Inka, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888.

—Sam Adams