Dripping with cutesy charm, but demanding your respect, the Long Beach dreamy indie pop trio, Pageants, impressed at the Bootleg this past Friday celebrating their ‘Musings of the Tide’ 7” Release. The former keyboard player and backing vocalist for Avi Buffalo, Rebecca Coleman, performed like a seasoned pro. She carries that indefinable “It” Factor – an easygoing grace mixed with a depth of maturity that belies her youth. Cooing as smoothly as a dove and running up and down the fretboard of her electric guitar like a Nashville studio musician, it’s the road ahead of her that excites me. The band’s well-crafted Beach House meets Camera Obscura sound already delights, and I imagine the grit of adulthood will only prove useful fodder for even richer musical enterprises for Coleman and her cohorts – Devin O’Brien and Dylan Wood. The three-piece played a live show that would put most five piece acts to shame. O’Brien’s effortless lead guitar added color and texture, while Wood’s skill with triggering backing tracks and drum loops never missed a beat. Their laid-back, mostly mid-tempo repertoire could easily sweep over you in a banal wave, but the arrangements rapturously ebb and flow, pulling you in like a gentle rip tide that never lets go. Building on the warm pop concoctions they had offered throughout the night, the nearly last song of the set, “No Wonder” – as we were all informed is affectionately code named “No Undies” by the band – floated to the top for me. Maybe it was all the meowing coming from the incredibly supportive and attentive crowd that put me in the right mood, but nonetheless, this is one I’m itching to get in recorded form. Fingers crossed for a sooner rather than later Bobb Bruno-produced full length. For now, enjoy the title track off their 7” and go ahead and pick up the hard copy at Origami. – Jacqueline Caruso
