Few alternative acts were as polarizing as Spacemen 3 in the college-rock explosion of the ’80s. They wrote pop gems and then buried them in waves of psychedelic distortion. But they imploded fairly quickly, with guitarist and vocalist Pete Kember (better known as Sonic Boom) going on to several other projects, including Experimental Audio Research with Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine. Spectrum, in some ways, realized Kember’s potential for making gorgeous tunes, unburdened by impenetrable sonic haze (though there is still gobs of reverb). In particular, covers of Beat Happening’s “Indian Summer” (also covered by fellow effects-pedal-worshippers Luna) and Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You in the End” linked Kember’s sound to the indie canon and made it seem, for once, a little more down to Earth.
The Blank Club
Monday, April 25
San Jose, 8pm; $12-$14.
