Natalie Portman's Shaved Head

For an act whose moniker alludes to the film version of V For Vendetta, graphic novelist Alan Moore's dystopian fantasia about a masked bomber, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head is pretty darned peppy. On Glistening Pleasure, the Seattle-based outfit's debut album, Luke Smith, Claire England, David Price, Shaun Libman and Liam Downey Jr. roll out electro-pop grooves that form the backdrop for ecstatic vocalizing occasionally delivered in falsetto, as in the call-and-response opening to the merrily twisted "Beard Lust." ("Where did you get that beard?" "I grew it!" "How d'ya keep it so clean?" "I shampoo it!") The result is knowingly dorky party music delivered with so many winks that the average optometrist might suspect a serious vision issue. NPSH appears in the middle of a twelve-band lineup assembled as part of the Larimer Lounge's Summer BBQ Series, and if listeners aren't too hungry for something substantial, the music should keep them going until the next course.