Taking the measure of folk-pop band the Pica Beats

There really isn't enough room for six people in the Pica Beats' practice space. Spanning maybe 10 feet by 12 feet, it's a cramped, unventilated crypt in a much-loved, damp-smelling underground warren of such spaces on Capitol Hill called Crybaby Studios. Amid the drum kit and keyboards and bass and guitars and extra percussion and five musicians — plus one journalist — one item dominates the room: a battered sitar, mounted chest high on a padded, metal swivel stand.

"This thing is the bane of my existence," says bandleader Ryan Barrett over horn-rimmed glasses. "I rigged it up like this so I don't have to sit down to play it."

The band runs through "Poor Old Ra," the lead single from their Hardly Art debut, "Beating Back the Claws of the Cold," the new release they'll celebrate Thursday at Chop Suey. Barrett plucks at the sitar, its almost nasal twang infusing the song with subcontinental overtones. Drummer Colin English (also bespectacled) adds more flourish than the record's simple thigh-slapping rhythms, and Adam McCollom (nope) takes a more pronounced keyboard lead. Backing vocalist Alice Sandahl (uh-uh) — two weeks new to the band — keeps time on tambourine.

Feedback squeals through the overpacked room. The band plays the song to its end.

"Am I too loud?" bassist Garrett Kelly asks (bearded and yes, wearing horn-rims, making a three-fifths majority.) The others demur.

"We're not normally this polite," Barrett explains.

Then again, there's something inherently polite about a band named after a typographical measurement and/or eating disorder that laments forgotten Egyptian gods and plays low-key, word-dense folk-pop. Adding a sitar doesn't exactly roughen things up, either. Though it gives the Pica Beats a natural, uniquely appealing sound, Barrett is sheepish about the instrument and wary of being pegged a novelty: the indie-sitar band!

"I've already gotten accusations of that a little bit," he says, taking a break around the corner at Caffé Vita. "I think that's why I don't play it up as much as I can. I just wanted to use it. I really like Bollywood-style, unabashedly poppy stuff."

Whereas testoste-rockers like Shim and Sunday Night Blackout veer so deeply into numbskullery they emerge near genius, there's no doubling back on the Pica Beats' button-down intellect. In songs like "Summer Cutting Kale," "Cognac and Run," and "Hikikomori and the Rental Sisters," Barrett's reedy voice rings over haunting backing choirs and occasional horns and strings. The result suggests lo-fi indie rock fairy tales unfettered by age or locale. From that point, there's no feigning simplicity.

As it turns out, simplicity is the root of Barrett's song-

writing.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm tricking people into thinking things are more complicated than they are," he says.

Trickery — by way of ... Fugazi?

"They affected my whole life, from when I was a teenager and my brother introduced me to them," he continues. "I realized that I was attempting to write songs that had like 8 million parts, 8 million changes. It was chaos. Fugazi was all about doing the right thing at the right time — putting two really simple things over each other, but they counterpoint each other and it sounds like it has 8 million times more depth. It's not about doing complicated things, its about doing tricks like that."

The other trick — inverse of the first — is knowing when to turn off the mental filter.

"Usually I'll write the lyrics all at once, sometimes in a couple hours," Barrett says. "It's really stream of consciousness, really fast, so I don't have the time to think about what I'm writing. I try not to think about it afterwards, too. If someone asks what things mean, I just never say."

Other must-see shows this week:

Saturday

Seattle, you're killing us: Three major hometown shows and one major-er hometown music festival on the same day. Start in Ballard for Reverb Fest, Seattle Weekly's locally focused answer to The Stranger-sponsored riot-waiting-to-happen that is Capitol Hill Block Party. Sixty-five bands, including the Moondoggies, Aqueduct, Shim, Grayskul and See Me River, play at various venues starting at 3 p.m.; wristbands for all shows cost only $8 in advance or $10 at the event; check www.seattleweekly.com/microsites/reverbfest.

Then it's up in the air: Gonzo dance party at the Comet Tavern with the fun-loving kids in Hockey and Tacocat ($6, 9 p.m.) or a more adult turn with Grand Archives at Neumo's ($12, 8 p.m.). You're only as old as the shows you see.

Monday

Hip-hop maestro Jake One — beat maker for De La Soul, 50 Cent and a ton more — celebrates the release of his boom-bap opus "White Van Music" on Rhymesayers Entertainment with a show featuring Brother Ali, D.Black, J.Pinder, Spaceman and more at the War Room ($10, 9 p.m.).

Jonathan Zwickel: zwickelicious@gmail.com