Underthings Move in at Least 2 Directions at Once

This band called the Underthings may be the most pop-sounding act that musician Paul Lacques has played with so far. After years making polka with Rotondi and world beat with the Bonedaddys, it’s hard to ignore some of the Underthings’ smooth acoustic mixture of jazz, rock, country, African, Brazilian and other styles.

But just listen to Lacques talk about this “beautiful dissonance” he says he’s after: “With this band, it gets a little more unpredictable. It’s a chance to try out some different things. In that way, it is a little bit jazzy or experimental. We’ll be in the middle of one of our pop songs and there will be a sort of Stravinsky passage.”

All of which might indicate a band moving in at least two directions at once, pursuing an agreeable pop sound with strange chord progressions. “It’s definitely a source of conflict,” Lacques agreed recently. “Do we try to be accessible or do we try to follow our musical hearts?”

So far, though, this six-person band has been winning a growing audience with its local club shows and a series of live appearances on KCRW (89.9 FM), even if its self-produced 1990 debut album is difficult to find outside of a few Hollywood record shops.

The Underthings got together in 1988 when singer Stefanie Naifeh joined Rotondi members Lacques, accordionist Richie Lawrence and saxophone player Michael Rose for another musical side project.

“We set out to form a lounge band, and we just wrote whatever we wanted, and it took its own path from there,” Naifeh said. “The focus is a little bit on the environment and social issues sometimes, and on a more personal level.”

It remained a largely part-time endeavor until last year, when guitarist Lacques left the Bonedaddys, which spent much of every year on the road. And by then, Rotondi had also dissolved because the band’s singer had moved to New York.

“The three of us have been playing together basically since 1984 in various incarnations, so this is in some ways an extension of Rotondi,” Lacques said of his former polka band mates. “I think with Stefanie, we can have a much wider audience because she has quite a range, including opera. And she can pull off country and Western pretty well, too.

“We don’t actually aim for pop, but I think we’re just naturally more that way now.”

The band’s self-titled album was released on both vinyl and cassette, although not on compact disc. Despite a lack of wide distribution, the 10-song record made it onto some of the college radio charts. “But you couldn’t buy it anywhere,” Lacques said, “so what was the point of all that?”

A former UCLA music major, Naifeh was a fan of both the Bonedaddys and Rotondi before Lacques noticed her “ecstatic dancing” in the dance pit during shows. Sitting with the others in Naifeh’s Los Angeles apartment, Lacques turned to the singer and joked, “Some of your finest performances have been down in the dance pit, Stefanie. I wish we had those on videotape. They were out there.”

Unlike Lacques’ earlier two bands, though, at least half the songs of the Underthings are not necessarily meant for dancing. Although often inspired by upbeat country music and world music, much of the music is slower-paced. But the newer act shares with Rotondi an affinity with the accordion, which has experienced an undeniable rebirth in mainstream popularity over the last five years.

“Rotondi was tongue-in-cheek, but we took the arrangements and the music very seriously,” Lacques said. “The accordion was absolutely not to laugh at. It was for the sound.”

Some newer acts, he noted, are actually adopting the instrument for its unexpectedly trendy new image, particularly because such bands as Los Lobos and Cowboy Junkies have made it a key ingredient to their music.

Lawrence added: “I think that comes from the acceptance of different ethnic music: Zydeco, even Brazilian tango, became more acknowledged over the last five years. It wasn’t just Lawrence Welk.”

Even so, Naifeh had to persuade her fellow Underthings to perform the old Rotondi songs, including “Polka Man,” during their club dates. “They turn out to be some of the favorites in the crowd,” she said.

Of course, they said, there was never any major-label interest in Rotondi. “I think the majors looked at Rotondi and just started shuddering and left the room,” Lacques joked.

But the Underthings, who had pressed 1,000 cassettes and 1,000 LPs of their debut record at a personal cost of $10,000, are hoping for a different kind of response, even if the band’s music is a little hard to categorize on the current pop landscape. “I think if Guns N’ Roses hires an accordion player, we’ll probably have a record deal right away,” Lacques said.

MUSIC FESTIVAL: The Cal State Northridge Music Department will launch its fourth annual Music Festival this weekend with concerts in classical, jazz and mariachi music scheduled throughout the week.

Tonight’s performance features the Northridge Singers and Chamber Singers, conducted by John Alexander. The program begins at 8 p.m. in the University Student Union. At 8 p.m. Monday, the Northridge Trio, with violinist Franklyn D’Antonio, cellist Rowena Hammill and pianist Francoise Regnat, performs in the Campus Theater.

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, Mariachi Aztlan performs at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Student Union. And contemporary jazz is performed by the CSUN “A” Band at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Campus Theater.

For information on festival concerts, call (818) 885-3180.