LYDIA & MOOSE BLOOD LIGHT UP IRVING PLAZA

There’s something of the desert sun that finds its way into Lydia‘s indie rock. Songs like “Georgia” paint an impressionistic picture of a drifter, alternately regretful and uncaring about the girl left behind and the missed bus home. The refrain of “Georgia on my mind, but I let her go,” flips the script of the love song made famous by Ray Charles. The dissembling quality of Lydia’s lyrics, juxtaposed against chiming guitars and soaring harmonies, may seem like an unlikely combination. Take equal parts pop insouciance and brooding narrative, and you have two main ingredients through which the Arizona-based band works their alchemical powers. Frontman Leighton Antelman, along with Matt Keller (keys, guitars), Justin Camacho (guitar), Shawn Strader (bass), and Evan Chapman (drums), enthralled the New York crowd on Thursday night, previewing material off their forthcoming album, Liquor. If the atmospheric “Goodside” with its stormy, keys-inflected intro is any indication, this sixth EP showcases the band’s knack for finding light through the darkness. Liquor arrives July 13 via Sony imprint Weekday Records. Pre-order here (check out that lovely blue-and-white smoke vinyl).

Lydia

Lydia is on tour with English emo/punk rockers Moose Blood, who just released their third studio album, I Don’t Think I Can Do This Anymore (Hopeless Records). While the title of the Canterbury lads’ EP conveys a sort of emotional desolation, it’s belied by the band’s fervent performances. The set started with “Talk In Your Sleep” off the new album, and Eddy Brewerton (vocals, guitar), who was losing his voice to a bad cold, invited the audience to help him sing. The packed, bi-level Irving Plaza was more than ready for the challenge. Friends clutched each other in near-religious ecstasy, swaying to the music and harmonizing confidently through every word, carried along the moody sonic seas by Mark Osborne (vocals, guitar), Kyle Todd (bass), and Lee Munday (drums). As winter visited the last of its icy precipitation outside, indoors, it was a warm communion.