January 20-26, 2005

musicpicks

Relay / South Congress / Phil Moore Browne

Rock/pop

They don't have much in common, but together they make one solid local bill. Fishtown quartet Relay has a predilection for chimey guitar distortion and ghostly vocals like most post-shoegazer groups. Unlike its brethren (Pia Fraus, Aspera), who seem hellbent on beating the My Bloody Valentine Loveless aesthetic into the ground, Relay — on the self-released Pre EP — shows a skill for solid, distinguishable pop songs moreso than walls of white noise. "Ode To Guesswork" and "New Domestic Landscape" both boast a bobbing Echo and The Bunnymen feel and jibe surprisingly well with South Congress, which is apparently exploring its dub/reggae leanings on recent recordings. Chalk this correlation up to keyboardist Mikele Edwards, whose voice adds a sense of serenity to the compound rhythms and jagged staccato guitars. From here, SC's more heated moments should dovetail well into the turbulent funk-punk-spoken word of Phil Moore Brown. It's not a grouping we'd immediately think of, but looking at it in context, it's not one likely to disappoint.

Sat., Jan. 22, 9 p.m., $8, with Wrists And Pistols, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888.

—John Vettese