Saint Motel: Concierge is King

Four guys with mustaches walk into a bar...

To paraphrase the late Frank Zappa, progressive rock is not dead, it just smells funny. No particular reason to get it out of mothballs, either, unless you have a hankering for a Bill Bruford drum solo. Who? Exactly. Still, it’s fun to hear a band not afraid to channel its inner Ambrosia from time to time, and such is the case with the adventurous indie power-pop outfit Saint Motel. One of the hotter tickets on the sizzling platter that is L.A. indie rock these days, the foursome of singer/guitarist A/J Jackson, lead guitarist Aaron Sharp, bassist Dak (just Dak, you know, like Cher) and drummer Greg Erwin offer a guitar-heavy, mini-operatic attack like Queen fronted by the man-love child of Rivers Cuomo and Brandon Flowers.

Their new single, “Puzzle Pieces,” begins with a bouncy piano figure and segues into exuberant indie rock with glam flourishes and Franz Ferdinand influence. Along the way there’s a pulsating guitar undercurrent, a wash of electronics and a soaring, slightly off-kilter chorus featuring a sing-along “Fuh-fuh-face of puzzle pieces” refrain. It’s an approach that’s crisp, humorous and, at least in this case, somewhat wholesome. Finally, a band that goes well with whiskey AND low-fat milk!

The guys in Saint Motel met in film school and that cinematic flair is apparent in every twist and turn of their musical merry-go-round. Their six-song debut EP, “ForePlay,” also contains imaginative and slickly produced videos for each song that showcase an OK Go-like whimsy, though with less choreography (and for just $5, the EP is a real bargain in this recession that’s over but really isn’t). In the clip for “Butch,” the band members spring to life out of a school yearbook and Polaroid picture, like “Buddy Holly” holograms from a post-modern indie-preppy almanac.

Saint Motel’s visual and theatrical tendencies extend to their live shows, which have drawn rave reviews from people whose reviews read like raves. The band tends toward the “event” motif, having staged concerts which monikers such as “The Kaleidoscopic Mind Explosion in 3D” and “Make Contact,” and annually hosts a Valentine’s Zombie Prom. Nobody in the audience throws toast at them just yet, but the night is young.

Still, it’s the music that grabs your attention. Jackson owns an expressive modern rock croon that can and often does slip into a pleasant falsetto (not a dry seat in the house), and secret weapon Sharp’s guitar playing offers all manner of sonic rave-up and whiplash roar. With “Puzzle Pieces” racking up impressive download numbers and airplay on a World Famous radio station or two, Saint Motel might soon be upgraded to four-star status.