You have to give emotionally mature props to Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. The once married couple has been playing together in some form for the past two decades. Coomes and Weiss were a couple when they formed Motorgoat in Portland, Ore., in 1990, self-releasing a pair of cassettes and a 7-inch before calling it a day in 1993.
In fairly rapid succession, the duo began recording as Quasi and divorced; amazingly, the band survived the end of the relationship.
American Gong, Quasi’s just-released album and debut for Kill Rock Stars, injects more fun, psychedelic guitar histrionics, acoustic musings, distorto-Blues and Beatlesque avant Chamber Pop into the proceedings. They haven’t been a couple for more than a decade and a half but Sam Coomes (Built to Spill) and Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney) make crazy beautiful music together.
They play the Southgate House on Friday. Get show details and Sound Advice here.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2010.