Lois Isn’t Just Following the Pop Crowd

“I try to strip my music and lyrics down like you would a piece of furniture,” says singer-songwriter Lois Maffeo, the latest in a line of Olympia, Wash.’s, noteworthy independent acts that include riot grrrls Bikini Kill and cute popsters Kicking Giant.

The 31-year-old Phoenix native, who is known simply as Lois on her records, relocated to the Northwest more than a decade ago and is part of a parade of Olympia artists who play no-frills pop and release albums on the small label K.

But her third album, “Bet the Sky,” stands apart from the area’s ultra cliquish music scene thanks to its honest, open and humble nature. Her off-kilter, mostly acoustic approach is compelling, avoiding the self-righteous stance or baby-doll trimmings that plague many of the college town’s artists. As a result, “Bet the Sky” has risen to No. 12 on the College Music Journal airplay chart since its release last month, and has earned praise in both mainstream and underground circles.

“I listen to other artists and am filled with wild jealousy that I can’t write a song that’s incredibly lush in its description,” she says, speaking in an understated, down-to-earth fashion. “Some people can write about something as mundane as dust and it’s beautiful, evocative and intricate. But when I write, I just give the emotional ingredients, then you make up the soundscape.”

Maffeo, whose sparse arrangements on the album focus chiefly on her acoustic guitar, grew up in a hippie household with activist parents who listened to Odetta and Pete Seeger. But she was more intrigued by the local band the Meat Puppets and British groups such as the Slits and the Raincoats.

“Although, musically, folk is incredibly beautiful to me, I’m not really part of that tradition,” says Maffeo, who will play in L.A. March 10 at Macondo. “It’s almost as if you had to be there. When I decided to play guitar, it wasn’t ‘cause Joan Baez could play, it was because (Olympia pop band) Beat Happening could.”

But ever since the decadence of ‘70s rock was traded in for the bare bones of punk, it’s been the order of the day to play stripped-down tunes. Sebadoh, Liz Phair and Morphine are just a few examples of the style at work. But Maffeo says her minimal approach isn’t exactly by choice.

“Simplicity in my own music-making is kind of a demand in the sense that I’m not really a gifted guitar player,” she admits. “I’m also not that keen on becoming great, I just feel proficient for what I do. Maybe that sounds like a cop-out, but even if I tried to play covers of other people’s songs, I couldn’t. I just make up my own chords. So to me, simplicity is a necessity.”

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Mecca Minimal: Long before Lois or Bikini Kill, the Northwest band Mecca Normal was churning out shards of minimal noise (no bass or drums) with a confrontational edge, and would eventually end up influencing many of Olympia’s current female artists. Even though its seventh album, “Sitting on Snaps” (on Matador Records), finds the Vancouver, B.C., duo channeling its acidic and seething energy into actual melody, as opposed to its previous din of hair-raising feedback and guttural shrieks, its burning style still has little to do with the more palatable Olympia pop sound.

Jean Smith’s hissing, melodramatic vocals, somewhere between Grace Slick, Patti Smith and a dental drill, slither and flail next to eerie guitar work, while Smith’s abstract lyrics provoke strong and disquieting images. Once again, Mecca Normal proves itself an intriguing, consistently challenging force.

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Not Very Mecca Mule: So maybe Mule, a dirgelike hillbilly punk band from downtown Chicago, has nothing to do with Lois, Mecca Normal or the great Northwest, but for those seeking a mindless musical break, the trio’s deranged, cabin-crazy clamor proves a better escape than 100-proof moonshine. Catch Mule on Thursday at the Whisky.

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POP DATE BOOK

On sale Sunday is Randy Travis at the Universal Amphitheatre, March 31. . . . Hot English band Elastica makes its L.A. debut on March 14 at the Whisky. Tickets are on sale now. . . . On sale today is the London Suede at the Hollywood American Legion Hall on March 2. . . . Also on sale today is Pantera at the Orange Pavilion on April 1. . . . Me’Shell NdegeOcello will be at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Feb. 28. . . . Simple Minds, which plays the Mayan Theatre on Monday, will also be at the House of Blues with Bush on March 2. Tickets for the latter show go on sale Sunday. . . . Sugartooth heads a roster of 10 L.A. bands playing today at the Cal State Northridge student union to benefit Northridge earthquake relief. The event starts at noon, with Bill Grisolia, Red Heaven and the Mystrals among the other acts scheduled. KROQ’s Jed the Fish will emcee part of the show.

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O.C. POP DATE BOOK

At the Robert B. Moore Theatre at Orange Coast College tonight will be the Kingston Trio. . . . On Valentine’s Day, Harry Belafonte performs at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. . . . Me’Shell NdegeOcello will be at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Feb. 28.