March 3- 9, 2005

musicpicks

Bella Lea

rock/pop

Denali's Maura Davis and her brother Keeley worked the sibling angle hard. So when, after two gorgeous albums, Keeley and Jonathan Fuller quit to refocus on Engine Down, it seemed improbable that Denali would continue. Maura and Cam DiNunzio tried to keep going with a couple of ringers, but they shut it down after a few months. A year later, DiNunzio's out, the ringers are in, and Maura Davis reigns supreme. Bella Lea's three-song demo is a shade less atmospheric than Denali; chalk that up to the recording process. "The Mess" is a killer intro; PJ Harvey could steal it and rough up the vocals, and no one would be the wiser. But "When I See You" sounds like no one but Maura Davis. Built on Davis' soaring voice and guitarist Matt Clark's whirlpool distortion, it's as lovely as anything in her back pages. Who needs a brother?

Tue., March 8, 7:30 p.m., $8, with Maritime, Rainy River and Cordova, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 800-594-TIXX.

—M.J. Fine