RACHEL'S AND JUNE OF '44: DIVERSE INDIE-ROCK FLAVORS

It was a normal beginning to a rather unusual night that began with a set by Noble's new group, Rachel's, and ended with one by June of '44, a new band led by Mueller. That Noble and Mueller have remained friendly enough to tour together is practically unique. But what's really remarkable is how far their musical paths have diverged. June of '44 have carried on the Rodan tradition of artful-yet-unpolished, tight-yet-chaotic, alternately tranquil and abrasive indie rock, an aesthetic that Rodan's Rusty (Quarterstick) helped define. Sharp, angular guitar chords, tricky rhythmic changes, and screamed/spoken vocals dominated June of '44's set, which unfortunately failed to reflect some of the gentler textures of their debut, Engine Takes to the Water (Quarterstick).

Rachel's, however, have abandoned rock altogether. Handwriting, their debut on Quarterstick, is an ambitious cycle of understated piano-and-strings-based instrumentals with occasional jazzy overtones and a few undercurrents of avant-noise. It's chamber music that's too simple to appeal to real classical fans, indie without the rock, high-art for the lo-fi underground. (It's akin to some of the Kronos Quartet's more pop-oriented projects.)

The Rachel's core trio of Noble (bass and guitar), Christian Frederickson (violin), and Rachel Grimes (piano) was supplemented by cellist Eve Miller, drummer Edward Grimes, and Shellac bassist Bob Weston -- who engineered the sound and played bass on a few tunes from behind the mixing board. A projector screened footage of wind-rustled trees and abandoned train tracks on a white sheet, moody images that reinforced the cinematic quality of the music.

Classical-rock hybrids are dangerous enough. The pretension factor is familiar to anyone who's grown up hearing the Wagnerian overtones in "Iron Man," or who realizes that Tommy owes more to Andrew Lloyd Webber than to Verdi. Too often the classical, or "high art," aspirations of most rockers is laughable.

Rachel's don't entirely escape -- hell, Handwriting has a composition titled "Frida Kahlo" and a beautifully rendered 16-page insert that excerpts the poetry of Pablo Neruda and Rafael Alberti. And some of the people in the audience -- presumably those who came without first listening to the disc -- responded accordingly. When one boisterous audience member heckled the group, Noble half-jokingly retorted with "Get some couth you lowbrow." Later in the set he mentioned that he'd be "passing out coloring books at the end of the set," a comment clearly aimed at the restless talkers in the crowd. But indie rock has always had an elitist sensibility; it can be traced at least as far back as the Velvet Underground's first two albums.

The one thing that isn't pretentious about Rachel's is the music itself. It's based not on virtuoso chops but on simple interwoven melodies and progressions -- a lot like indie rock. And like indie rock, the fact that it's not for everybody is part of the appeal. That's something that Rachel's and June of '44 share.

-- Matt Ashare