Saarinens

On Friday, the Saarinens, a local indie rock/power pop group led by singer-songwriter Michael Chapa (formerly of Whiskey Ships), will celebrate the release of its second recorded effort to date, and first since 2015’s debut Modern World. The new EP, which is called Animal, follows along right where Modern World left off, with excellent, nuanced songwriting, instrumental prowess aplenty (though never flashy), and a vague Pavement meets Yo La Tengo meets Wilco meets South Texas vibe. The Saarinens are a kind of low key Saytown supergroup, featuring, in collaboration with Chapa, the estimable Raul Alvarez (Cartographers, Slomo Drags) on guitar, keys, and backing vocals, Darren Kuper (The Jazz Protagonists, King Pelican) on drums, Brant Sankey (producer for The Please Help and more) on guitar, and Geoff Gilkes on bass, keys, and vocals. To boot, the EP features some terrific, surreal album art by constantly brilliant local artist/musician/writer/educator Hills Snyder. As if you needed more reason to check out the show, Period Modern (a retro furniture store) is a swell environment for an intimate concert, plus, White Elefant will open.