RECOMMENDED
Australia’s two-person indie-pop partnership of Kate Cooper and Damon Cox results in a project not entirely different than a Matt & Kim or a Mates of State, but easily just as pleasurable. Cooper taking the lead makes a major difference—less reliant on bubblegum harmonies than many of its peers, the band’s driven by Cooper’s strong vocals. With these aggressively distorted guitar parts, it takes a powerful presence to not get lost in the milieu. The band’s debut EP, which came out in 2008, sparked some attention, and the duo’s first full-length, “Rearrange Beds,” gets its physical release next week. A song like “Horizons,” all indie-alt-pop and summertime excitable, is a gift that should go over well with festival crowds for years to come. The band’s name and distracting use of grammar is forgivable, especially when the band can even pull off a song like “Little Lungs,” a ballad of sorts among the rock ‘n’ roll, double-vocaled and embracing of, and even challenging a bit, the emo tag. One thing’s clear—Cooper’s lungs aren’t little. (Tom Lynch)
March 15 at Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace, (773)478-4408, at 9pm. $8-$10.