Feed Like Fishes

The folks in Phoenix's Half String talked up this trio when they were Austin, TX's shiFt (before they moved north to various universities and gave up their name because of another band called Shift). And it's easy to see why: Should would have fit perfectly into Arizona's former "beautiful noise," post-dream pop scene. Even without the interestingly sedate but grasping cover of the Wedding Present's "Spangle" (and, on another record, 18th Dye's "Merger"), their sound makes it apparent that they can match the English in pairing inventive, modern guitars to lulling tunes for nighttime singing. You could see "Sarah Missing" appearing on a Slowdive or Mojave 3 record, what with the beautiful male/female cooing (from the Ostermeier brothers, Marc and Eric, and Tanya Maus), the far away, knelling guitars, and the enveloping production. But this is no recent nostalgia, or even British-wannabe sound. Stick these folks on a bill with Wheat, Acetone, Idaho, Red House Painters, and Low and they would easily hold their own, and prove once again that slower (not slow) tempos don't make for boring music in the right hands. This is so pretty is almost hurts. (715 University Ave. SE #201, Mpls., MN 55414; eoster@polisci.umn.edu)