Son Volt Lights Up Dreary Topics

At the Coach House Tuesday night, Son Volt managed to turn dreary subject matter into captivating entertainment, despite Jay Farrar’s thin, monotonous vocals and an overall stage presence so unassuming that when bassist Jim Boquist said, “Here’s another one off of ‘Trace’ (the band’s debut CD),” it was a major break through in communication.

Despite all that, the quartet’s 15-song set was 80 minutes’ worth of music that mattered, in a welcome eclectic style that was ripe, full-bodied and anchored by a star player.

The group busted boundaries with its rootsy, lively, adventuresome mix of country, hillbilly, bluegrass, rock and even punk. Acoustic instruments collided with bass and electric guitars, creating wonderfully schizophrenic sound.

Farrar formed Son Volt from the ashes of his old band, the critics’-fave Uncle Tupelo. But Son Volt’s driving force, instrumentally at least, is Jim Boquist’s brother Dave, as valuable a player as the Boston Red Sox’s Mo Vaughn. He moved seamlessly from instrument to instrument, coloring each song with near-perfect moods, layers and punctuation.

During an opening stretch of hard-edged rockers, he cranked out Replacements-like riffs on his electric guitar. When the sweeping, gentler, folksy heart of the set beckoned for subtle fiddle accents, he made changing horses look easy. And he changed them yet again, to lap steel for a graceful, pure country twangy, pretty little thing called “Too Early,” a song that closed the program on a high. This man could make a fork and a spoon sing lullabies.

Chief songwriter Farrar creates dark characters drifting in such desolate surroundings as barren highways winding around seemingly endless rivers. His detached, grainy, weary vocals were well suited to such songs as the plaintive “Tear Stained Eye” and the chilling “Ten Second News.”

But over the course of the evening, his unwavering sound wore one down. It was especially distracting during the jangly, R.E.M.-like “Live Free,” a song that would seem to require more of an emotional investment. Some pitch variation and harmonies wouldn’t hurt, either.