*** Heatmiser

MIC CITY SONS

(Caroline)

In the two years that have passed since Heatmiser's last release, Elliott Smith, one of the band's two singer-songwriters, established himself on the vanguard of an emerging scene of folk-based indie-rockers from the grunge-infested Northwest. Heatmiser co-captain Neil Gust also seems to have soaked up some of Smith's coffeehouse vibe, because Heatmiser have clearly outgrown the loud, fast, punkish spirit of their youth.

On Mic City Sons Smith and Gust find their way to a fertile middle ground somewhere between the light strum of an acoustic guitar and the overdriven roar of an amped-up electric. Even a brisker, plugged-in tune like "Eagle Eye," which harks back to Heatmiser's punkier past, is marked by a mature, folk-pop sensibility that would translate just as easily to an acoustic-based setting. And "Plainclothes Man," with its stripped-down, drum-less intro and wistful, first-person narrative, sounds like a more-produced version of what Smith was aiming for on the homonymous solo disc he released earlier this year on Kill Rock Stars. The only thing missing on that disc was a propulsive backbeat and the occasional release offered by a buzzing power chord. That's not a problem on Mic City Sons.

-- Matt Ashare

(Heatmiser open for Brendan Benson downstairs at the Middle East tonight, November 14.)