Thursday, December 13, 2007

Britain was the birthplace of the late-'80s rock genre known as "shoegazer," so named for players' alleged tendency to stare intently downward as they generated thick mists of guitar distortion. By the early '90s, bands in other places were developing their own variations on the style; one of Washington's exemplars was Lorelei, which recently regrouped after a decade-long layoff. The trio performed Tuesday night at the Black Cat, and while its sound was familiar, more than half its set was fresh material from an upcoming EP.

In addition to its trebly roar, shoegazer rock was known for lullaby-like tunes and emulation of dub reggae's dynamic contrasts and open spaces. Lorelei uses some of those elements but not the singsongy vocal melodies. Few of the band's compositions have anything that could be called a chorus, and on Tuesday Matt Dingee's thin vocals frequently slipped within or beneath the roar issuing from his guitar. Bassist Stephen Gardner (also a member of the railroad-inspired electronica duo Chessie) occasionally boosted the vocals' presence by singing in unison with the guitarist. Yet more often, he underpinned Dingee's expansive forays, as on "Inside the Crimelab," or strummed his bass alongside the guitar ("Pillar").

Lorelei didn't demolish traditional song structures, but it did disassemble them in interesting ways. Quiet yielded unexpectedly to loud, textures supplanted hooks, and circular guitar riffs underlined repeated vocal phrases. If such new songs as "Hole Punch" contained straight-ahead rock passages, they were just a means to reach the next exhilarating twist.

-- Mark Jenkins