Tom Lynch

New work by local musician Michael Lyons (Clyde Federal), Violins' "Pink Water" offers gentle, guitar-driven indie rock, Lyons' voice Malkmus-esque in its laziness and indifferent drawl. Opener "Deify, Defy, Defile" could've easily been a Pavement song off of "Brighten the Corners," and the throwback from Lyons is welcomed. That songs leads into the much-poppier and bouncy "Trans," which features Lyons' at his lyrical best, shooting off rapid-fire, complicated vocal lines, backed with a clean, incessant electric guitar. The record hits a high mark with "The Two Simonas," a sort of acoustic ballad with playful, obscure lyrics and a melodic nostalgia that's tough to pull off. "Pink Water"'s best attribute is its consistency--no song really outdoes another, everything keeps to a certain level of indie slack, poetic ramblings and all. Opening for the always entertaining, funk-pop lords Baby Teeth.

Violins plays August 10 at Beat Kitchen, 2100 West Belmont, (773)281-4444, at 9pm. $10.

(2006-08-08)

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