Live Music Round Up: Wednesday, April 8

Point Juncture, WA, Velella Velella, Secret Highways at Tractor Tavern, 9 p.m., $8

Just one for you today; below I've taken the liberty of posting a little something I wrote about Point Juncture, WA in January of 2008, pre-Mt. Fuji. I also love electropop mavericks Velella Velella-- they put on a fabulous live show.

If Point Juncture, WA was a real place instead of a modest DIY band from Portland, it would probably look like the charming barefoot village Edward Bloom came across in the film Big Fish: picturesque, unpretentious, and infused with the yearning of those who can't quite banish the notion that something great lies beyond the forbidding foliage. In the real world, Point Juncture, WA are a Portland-based electro-pop group that specializes in hopeful, halcyon ditties about happy endings and overdosing on sweets. Not as cheerfully bubblegum as Portland's dance-party staple the Blow, the material falls in more tranquil, introspective territory, with vibraphonist Victor Nash blurring the edges of the band's traditional voice-guitar-bass-drums instrumentation. Enticing as Nash's and Amanda Spring's soft vocal stylings are, it's the harmonious blend of instruments and unexpected tempo changes that keep the listener engaged. SB