CRITIC'S CHOICE

Once Blue, with Lisa Loeb, Friday, November 24, at the Bluebird Theater, is a New York-based duo making its first Colorado appearance. But the approach taken by vocalist Rebecca Martin and guitarist Jesse Harris on their recent EMI debut recording isn't particularly new: It suggests a preppy updating of the looks and sounds perfected in the Seventies by Rickie Lee Jones and Sal Bernardi, her then-sidekick/back-up musician. Like Jones, whom Martin and Harris credit as an influence, Once Blue concocts original tunes that are inviting, coy and cleverly delivered. The result is a perfect antidote to the Friends era--a time in which style seems more important than commitment.