Now, More Charm and More Tender

Though their drummer also minds the kit for A Minor Forest, Pee has more in common with the S.F./Northwest axis of angularly hooky, self-analyzing indie pop, falling somewhere between Excuse 17 and a less noisy Henry's Dress. The band's best asset are the at-once interlocking and at-odds lead vocals of singer/guitarists Kelly Green and Jim Stanley. They play out a frustrating relationship over the angular jangle and energizing stop-starts of "I Hop." "What bothers me is how you say 'whatever'" Green wails, and Stanley's quieter vocal is the usual sullen boyfriend response. The song ends too quickly, though, and that's a problem with most of Now! More Charm & More Tender. The album's share of one-minute throwaways makes concentrating on its handful of amazing tracks all the more important. Then again, there's potential for Pee to be a great singles band. "Copacetic"'s cool sideways changes would rule if drawn out, and — if it didn't end criminally at just over a minute — the rousing Archers of Loaf-style rocker "Bruce Loves Big Star" would match the intensity of "I Hop."