March 10-16, 2005

musicpicks

Hood/Menomena

Menomena

Rock/pop

For those caught up in the rock vs. art cultural rift, tonight's show at the church will either be unbearably pretentious or wholly ingenious. For the rest of us, it'll be an evening of interesting music. First up there's Menomena, the most recent recipient of Pitchfork's coveted "Let's hype the shit out of a mediocre upstart band!" distinction. OK, fine, this Portland trio is better than mediocre. On last year's I Am The Fun Blame Monster! (Film Guerrero), solid pop songs like "The Late Great Libido" bounce like Warm Jets-era Eno. At the same time, most cuts are nuanced with literal bells and whistles, swirling loops and extraneous sounds. It creates captivating ambiences but also bogs things down tremendously. Better are headliners Hood, who have taken the opposite approach in their 14-year career, stitching together sonic tapestries that happen to form songs. The Leeds quartet's new Outside Closer (Domino) grooves like The Notwist at some points, but more often just backs off to revel in its sampled, soothing, glitched-out bliss.

Thu., March 10, 8 p.m., $10, with Pit Er Pat, The First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., www.r5productions.com.

—John Vettese