BUZZ BANDS

The ramshackle folk of Briertone inspired a move to L.A., and Fields' ethereal pop sounds better outside of the classroom.

Go ahead: Try to label them

It's hard enough for a band to get gigs around Los Angeles, but when you don't live here — and you bring a little something different to the table — it's darned near impossible. So Adam Pasion and his banjo-, violin- and mandolin-toting band mates in Briertone moved down the coast this spring.

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"There's only so much that can be done in San Luis Obispo, and we thought it was definitely time to plant ourselves," says Pasion, 22. "We're really stoked on how eclectic the music scene is."

The addition of Briertone and its punk rock-meets-"Deliverance" sensibility only adds to the diversity. "We've been called outlaw rock ... rock 'n' roll with lots of twang," says Pasion, whose songs, written on the guitar or banjo, are fleshed out by multi-instrumentalist Taylor Odenwald's contributions. "Nobody can quite put their finger on it, and I like that."

Weaned on Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top and other classic rock influences, Pasion says the music on his band's three EPs, released through the SLO-based art collective Something Sacred, might fall in with contemporary twangy acts like 16 Horsepower and Wovenhand.

Depending on Briertone's lineup for the evening, the audience might get a taste of lap steel or stand-up bass, but no matter the instrumentation, Briertone's material is delivered with an indie-rock fervor. "I would say they're just bluegrass or country songs," says Pasion, whose quintet performs tonight at Alex's Bar in Long Beach. "That's just what comes out of me."

Out of the classroom

The quavering jangle of guitars and keyboards that got Nick Peill out of the fields — and into Fields — is nothing you haven't heard before. That the former schoolteacher's upstart English quintet can make it sound so fresh and innocent is surprising.

"I think it's a case of having so many influences that it sounds like nothing," says Peill, who was armed with about 60 compositions when he moved to London and the band formed around him. "When I started I had this slightly introspective, melancholy thing going, and I'd always find a melody to give it that certain prettiness."

Evoking the languid folkiness of Nick Drake (and maybe the Strawbs) and the measured, electronica-charged shoegaze of modern Britpop bands, Fields released its "7 From the Village" mini-album (on Black Lab Records, a division of Atlantic) this year to good reviews. Peill and mates Thorunn Antonia, Jamie Putnam, Matty Derham and Henry Spenner this week finished recording its debut album in Dublin with Michael Beinhorn (Soundgarden, Soul Asylum, Hole).

Says Peill: "I think the album will sound quite a bit more muscular in places, and a bit more raw."

Fields makes its L.A. debut Wednesday night at the Troubadour as the opening act for Canadian indie rockers the Dears, whose new album, "Gang of Losers," is out next week.

Fast forward

Touts: Unsigned L.A. quartet Foreign Born has its debut, "On the Wing Now," finished, and from hearing the album it shouldn't be long before some label is interested. Foreign Born plays Safari Sam's tonight with Rogue Wave and Jason Collett (of Broken Social Scene).... Countryfied rocker Gaucho Gil celebrates the release of "The Ballad of Gaucho Gil" on Friday at the Mint.... Massive Saturday night on tap: Orange Countians get to check out Cold War Kids at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa; entertaining Brits Art Brut join We Are Scientists to rock the Henry Fonda Theater; and Silversun Pickups, Viva Voce and the Kingdom hold forth at the Echo.... Nice free night at Spaceland on Sunday, with up-and-comers Polus and Mezzanine Owls playing; then the spunky five-woman outfit Rocket starts its residency on Monday.... The Prix returns to Club Moscow on Wednesday for a record-release celebration.



buzzbands@latimes.com

Recommended downloads

Download Briertone's "Sojourners" EP free at www.absolutepunk.net/artists/showlink.php?do=showdetails&l=3222

Download Fields' "Heretic" at www.myspace.com/fieldsband

Stream "Union Hall" by Foreign Born at www.myspace.com/foreignborn