Blitzen Trapper

Eric Earley's melodic sense is so uncanny that critics appear to take for granted that he steals. Yet even the sound of his Portland, Oregon, band Blitzen Trapper is a defiant amalgam, an alternative country-rock attuned to '70s AM and Pavement, and apparently nothing in between. Locals could get the notion that he's a close study of our own similarly-inclined indies: Furr (last year's fourth album, and Sub Pop debut) recalls tuneful bits of candied Little Man, pastoral Ol' Yeller, and solo-acoustic Ed Ackerson. Even Earley's fantastical lyrics repay close listening: The murder tale "Black River Killer" is about his real uncle, while "Not Your Lover" says something deeper about the wayward subconscious than most "dream" songs ever attempt. He's a real artist with homey trappings, in other words, something our own music scene knows plenty about. With Alela Diane.
Wed., Feb. 18, 8 p.m., 2009