*** Quasi

FEATURING "BIRDS"

(Up)

Even if it consisted solely of instrumentals, the third album from this Portland (Oregon) duo would merit attention. Whereas an air of barely organized chaos marked their previous CD, R&B Transmogrification, this latest offering comes closer to carefully orchestrated confusion. The drumming of Janet Weiss (who also pounds skins in Sleater-Kinney) provides an essential pivot for the Quasi sound, and Sam Coomes's vintage keyboard -- the chameleon-like Roxichord (also a favorite of Sun Ra, if that offers any illumination) -- holds the spotlight. Atop the chugging rhythms and deceptively cheerful melodies, Quasi dole out a regiment of lyrics so bleak they make Pittsburgh look like the Emerald City. "You fucked yourself and don't know where to go/Split wide open like a sturgeon for the roe" is just one among countless couplets so grim yet inspired, the cumulative effect threatens to transform Featuring "Birds" into the indie-rock equivalent of The Bell Jar. And if the bittersweet "It's Hard To Turn Me On" doesn't touch your heart, well . . . break out the oil can, because you must be a pre-Dorothy Gale Tin Man.

-- Kurt B. Reighley