Makeout Point

Hungry, simple, unpolished, unposed: Indie rock used to be a beautiful thing. But all is not lost in the age of hipster Hyundai commercials. For instance, there's Makeout Point. Or at least there used to be: The outfit broke up recently, soon after the release of its latest EP, Don't Look Up. Fronted by singer/guitarist Michelle Bach and backed by bassist Laura Morocco and her husband, guitarist Anthony, and drummer Patrick Farrell, the group stuffs five all-too-brief songs with folky yet discordant hooks and an overall tone of humble purity and passion. The disc isn't perfect — Michelle's rich, floating vocals don't always mesh with the jittery, occasionally strangled instrumentation — but there's enough spirit and moments of tuneful brilliance on Don't Look Up to make it a shame the band never had a chance to improve on it. That is, until their next project (we hope) comes along.