Critic’s Choice: Sour Boy, Bitter Girl, October 16 at Larimer Lounge

“When there’s no god left to pray to, you’ll see what I mean.” In singing those words from “Build a Wolf a Cage,” Benjamin Buttice probably doesn’t mean any harm, but that’s just a taste of the bracing lyricism to be found in his songwriting. Like Bill Callahan in a dark mood, Buttice writes songs about failed relationships with a curmudgeon’s insight into the human frailties that we often overlook in ourselves, especially, and in those we love. His acerbic vignettes set to calm, pretty music could be called Americana, but that would be like calling Radiohead space rock. On stage, Buttice, who performs under the name Sour Boy, Bitter Girl (due Saturday, October 16, at the Larimer Lounge) alongside luminaries from other Fort Collins bands like Paean and Candy Claws, manages to sound more spirited than somber.