Infinite Shuffle

I recently returned from a vacation that included stops in St. Louis, Portland and Seattle. Any indie fan worth his or her salt knows that those last two cities have some of the biggest music scenes going right now. And I made sure to absorb a little of that mojo during my stay.

It was actually my second trip to the Pacific Northwest. During my first jaunt, I discovered one of my all-time favorite albums — Elf Power’s Back To the Web. I picked up several new CDs on this trip, but toward the end of my stay in Portland, I realized I’d never seen any live music in the PacNW.

I decided to rectify that, and chose the Doug Fir Lounge as the venue for my Rose City baptism.

The night I was there, the headlining act was Pete International Airport, a side project of one of the members of Portland’s very own Dandy Warhols.

The group sounded solid on MySpace, but I have no idea how it sounds live, because I was too tired to stick around for the final act. But that was OK, because I’d already seen a band worthy of the price of admission.

When I walked down the stairs to the faux mountain lodge-looking joint, I was immediately greeted by a band that sounded like it could’ve easily been the main draw.

That group was Light For Fire, an indie act based out of Portland. On stage, they’re a five-piece, but at their heart, they comprise two main members — vocalist J. Nicholas Allard and Jeremy Sherrer on drums — and three other backing members.

Allard and Sherrer were previously in more of an indie-rock/pop group, The Village Green, which took its name from a Kinks album.

Their current incarnation is very much an indie-rock/folk venture. Vocally, nearly every song on their self-titled debut conjures up memories of Conor Oberst. Some that stand out in this regard are “Where I Was Born”, “NY (By the Hand)” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes”.

But there are a few tracks that take a lot of influence from Spoon — such as “The Letters” and “Green Life”.

I was gonna list a song of each variety, but WordPress is being a bitch, so you’ll have to head to their MySpace page, where you can hear six different songs, including an unreleased track, plus a demo.

Judging from their blog, the band is still in its infancy. It’s unsigned and self-produced the album, of which I apparently received a very early copy.

The group supposedly will be touring soon, so you should check it out. Even if you sleep through the headliner, at least you know the opening act will be solid.