03.07.10

Quasi Good

Portland-based Quasi is made up of an ex-husband and wife duo Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, and bass player Joanna Bolme. And the band has the credentials, believe us:  Weiss was a former member of the now defunct riot grrrl band Sleater-Kinney and is a part of Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. Coomes has recorded with Built to Spill and performed with Elliott Smith in ‘90s indie rock band Heatmiser. As a band, Quasi has even provided back-up for the now deceased, but much missed Smith.

So that’s a whole lot of “cool,” if you haven’t noticed. Quasi does sound a whole lot like the bands they’ve come to be associated with, particularly Built to Spill and Elliott Smith. They’re actually the kind of indie rock we’ve come to miss a whole lot, the kind that has been obliterated by contrived hipster sounds that no one will remember in a year.

Quasi also begs for the Mates of State comparison—another husband-and-wife rock duo that formed four years after Quasi got its start—the catchy, heavy beats, the somehow still adorable vocals.

Quasi: Detroit Bar, Sat., March 13, 9 p.m., $10. 843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, 949.642.0600. 21+.