Waterloo vocalist-guitarist Mark Ray moved to Portland, Oregon, several years ago, meaning that the band rarely plays shows in town anymore. That's why this last-minute gig (with Magic City) will be such a treat. Live, the band's been known to play evocative covers -- at the Lot festival in August 2005, it began its show with an appropriately shadowy cover of New Order's "True Faith." But homages such as this one merely foreshadow the Waterloo live experience, which features classic heartstring-pulling, rugged indie fuzz and swelling choruses that take cues from Radiohead, R.E.M. and other souls touched by the nuances of living and loving. Waterloo's last CD, Out of the Woods, is a perfect album to spin during this warm, early St. Louis spring.
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