A Fine Frenzy

Alison Sudol, more commonly known as A Fine Frenzy, has a knack for writing the kind of sweeping, piano-driven pop epics that would fit so well playing over the climax scene of a Hollywood dramedy—you know the scene: someone getting their comeuppance or triumphing over adversity of some sort. And while movie scenes like that are so common we hardly notice them anymore, one of A Fine Frenzy's songs would bring said scene up a notch or two, certainly. Sudol takes much inspiration from, and makes sideways references to, literary giants such as C.S. Lewis and E.B. White, showing she isn't just another pretty face with a piano in tow trying to take Tori Amos's quickly tarnishing crown away. The dreamlike lyrics are threaded together in odd, surprising ways and take such unexpected turns that it's impossible not to be reminded of the fuzzy, off-kilter thoughts that drift through our own heads during slumber. The difference is that Sudol has conjured the bravery to tell the world about hers. 18+.
Tue., March 11, 7 p.m., 2008