Quasi consisted of organist Sam Coomes and Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss; for extra Portland points, Minders and Spinanes bassist (and one-time Elliott Smith girlfriend) Joanna Bolme often joined then. But it was Coomes’ use of the wheezing, heaving Rock-Si-Chord, an odd electronic instrument invented in the late ’60s to imitate the sound of a harpsichord, that distinguished the band. It was somewhere between Theremin and squeezebox, part melodeon and part congested chest cough, and Coomes could be heard applying it liberally over his friends’ records as well, from Heatmiser to Built to Spill.
It was a quintessentially Portland sound, ingratiating but slightly harsh, and on Featuring “Birds” it painted over the acidic curl of lyrics that picked apart the personal shortcomings of Coomes and Weiss. The two had dated for awhile and decided to work through their failing relationship the way any two musicians in an incestuous, too-cozy scene might: out in the open, on record. Their pained, sardonic brand of cheeriness was never so focused and bright as it was here, and their frank and intimate lyrics were never more affecting than when they sang to each other: “You turn me on/And it’s hard to turn me on.”
The Fat Angel Sings 