Concert Review: Following the Quasi Model

Shortly after taking the Middle East stage, Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss started breaking things. First went a guitar string, then a microphone, an amp bit the dust, a few drumsticks followed and finally singer Coomes' voice was added to the list of casualties. The path of destruction was only fitting for the gloriously fractured sonic mess known as Quasi.

The words "pop music" usually don't bring to mind the most disturbing of images (unless you count Britney Spears). Singsong melodies, plaintive boy-girl vocals, an occasional drum solo and the whine of an organ can't do that much damage. That is, unless they're placed in the hands of two ultra-depressive misfits like the ex-husband and wife duo of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, a.k.a. Quasi. The pair opened the evening with a blast of optimism in the form of "Smile," in which Sam and Janet start off with sugary harmonies over a bouncing beat. Then the lyrics begin to take hold and things turn sour in a hurry. "You lost your health/Never had no wealth/So tighten up your belt/As you gather dust on some self." Coomes has gained a reputation among indie-pop circles for writing nihilistic lyrics that make the script for "Fight Club" read like a kids' book. The song concludes with the moral of the story: "Others have it worse/So smile/It's not so bad." Somehow, Sam doesn't seem convinced.

Musically, Quasi take seemingly mundane pop influences (The Beatles, The Carpenters, The Monkees) and feed them through a blender of late '90s noise. Without a guitar on the majority of their songs, Quasi focus on the interplay between the roxichord (Coomes' organ-like instrument) and drums. What they lack in musical accompaniment, they make up for with anger and volume. During "Our Happiness is Guaranteed," Janet Weiss pounds out drumbeats that come close to knocking her off her own stoo, while Coomes climbs on top of his keyboard and takes a few moments to beat it senseless in a furious blowout of metallic screeching. It all makes for a cathartic and energizing experience, unless you forgot your ear plugs at home.

After three critically acclaimed albums on Seattle's independent sensation Up Records (former home of Built to Spill and Modest Mouse), Quasi have built a respectable body of work to draw from live. While a few songs sound as if they are just vehicles for Coomes' jilted worldview or a thundering Weiss drum solo, the majority manage to balance catchiness with noise. During the middle of the hour-long set, Janet Weiss took a brief but very impressive spell as lead vocalist on "Two By Two." Just in case anyone was feeling optimistic after Janet's airy vocals, Coomes returned with "California," singing "Life is dull/Life is gray/At its best it's just ok/But I'm happy to report/Life is also short." The kids in the front row bounced along, reveling in Coomes' despair.

Quasi is not for the faint of heart or soul. They deliver their special blend of mayhem with an unmatched fury and cynical edge but at times it's hard not to get dragged down in all the gloominess. Closing with their unofficial theme song, "You F**ked Yourself," Quasi leave the stage dragging the broken carcass of pop music behind them.