Preview: High Places at the ICA Tonight

High Places
with Soft Circle
Institute of Contemporary Art
$15

Image of High Places taken from the band's Myspace page.

Sure, Shepard Fairey wasn't able to make his DJ gig at the Institute of Contemporary Art the other night, but the man isn't exactly known for his skillz on the board. Good thing the other notable music performance for the weekend won't be interrupted by an arrest for
vandalism. (That is, unless Bostonist isn't aware of a certain musical duo's secret wall-scrawling career.)

High Places, a terrific twosome featuring Rob Barber on every conceivable form of noisemaking and Mary Pearson singing every which way, will be headlining the ICA the early Sunday evening, and it will be quite a treat. Bostonist managed to catch the band when it was opening for other acts (No Age) at smaller venues (the Middle East downstairs) and before fame had whisked them away from their native Brooklyn (to their newfound home, L.A.) and it was a treat.

On record, High Places fit right into your headphones jack, with calm Caribbean-sounding, electronic-based beats that offer a wonderful template for Pearson's sweet and affable cooing vocals. Live, this duo is nearly a different beast altogether; Barber's beats morph seamlessly into club bangers, with chest-bumping base to boot. Best of all, the duo's music isn't just a combination of beat-after-beat, but great mix of thoughtful pop songs that stick to your head for days on end. "Gold Coin" is a bubbling anthem carried by a jittery juke backbeat while "Head Spins" is a quaint ditty about intimate conversations told against a variety of bell samples and looped beats. Better head to the ICA for a real celebration of music today; you can always YouTube the Grammys tomorrow.