Tonight: Headlights with the Love Language and Cowboy Indian Bear at the Jackpot (MP3 enhanced)

I wasn’t initially sold on Headlights, having caught the group at the Replay Lounge in the band’s infancy (prior even to 2006’s Kill Them With Kindness, I believe). But a couple albums and a couple shows later, consider me a true believer. Sure, I’m a little biased towards bands from Champaign, Illinois – the Poster Children, Menthol, and Hum being a few of my faves – but this is the new sound of middle Illinois: sweet, sugary, and smart indie-pop.

Led by coed lead vocalists Erin Fein (keys) and Tristan Wraight (guitar), Headlights is alternately propulsive and melancholy. They’re at least as fun as Belle and Sebastian on tracks like “Catch Them All” and “Market Girl,” which feature the sort of basslines that make it impossible to frown. Wraight’s reverb-soaked guitar lines are always right on the money, and his whispered vocals are a perfect match for Fein’s. There’s a reverent ’60s girl-group influence on tracks like “Cherry Tulips,” which might just make you propose to someone given the right time and setting.

MP3:

Tour mates the Love Language are a bit more of an enigma, being a newly formed outfit with only one home-recorded album under their collective belt. Despite some rough edges, the disc has some catchy tunes amidst the muck and the mire. Now a raging seven-piece led by brain trust Stuart McLamb, the North Carolina outfit rollicks like Okkervil River and gets soulful like Dr. Dog. Fortunately, there’s no “lo-fi” button on modern soundboards, so the band’s live show should prove more cohesive.

Oh, and have I mentioned how great local opener Cowboy Indian Bear is? They played a bunch of new songs when a saw them a few weeks back, so bring your tape recorders and we can throw that shit up on Napster or something.

Headlights play tonight with the Love Language and Cowboy Indian Bear at the Jackpot Music Hall.