Posies Whip Up Some Sweet Licks

Ever since Pete Townshend coined the term power pop in 1967, there have been precious few bands that have been able to marry crunch chords and hauntingly hooky melodies with the impact and intelligence presently shown by the Posies. At the Coach House on Saturday, the Seattle quartet proved that its once spotty live shows are now a palpable match for the sonic avalanche of its current “Frosting on the Beater” album.

Co-leaders Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer write songs that sound like a grunged-up mix of the Hollies and Cheap Trick, and the waif-like Stringfellow even has a voice remarkably like the Hollies’ Allan Clarke, though he’s willing to take it places Clarke never did. While pogoing relentlessly about the stage, the two traded off lead vocals, supporting each other with swirling harmonies and meshing guitar lines. On his six-string solos, Auer sounded like a missing link between Neil Young and Angus Young, combining incisive phrases and a feedbacked abandon.

Their set touched on such earlier songs as 1990’s “Golden Blunders” (recently covered by Ringo) and “Suddenly Mary” but dwelt, justifiably, on “Beater’s” churning masterpieces. Those included “Flavor of the Month,” a subversively upbeat castigation of the music biz, their hypnotic alternative hit “Dream All Day” and the moody “Burn and Shine,” replete with an extended and surprisingly musical “freak-out” jam.