Cousteau Finds No-Nonsense Depths

The London-based band Cousteau is a luxurious cross between the perversely bittersweet orchestrations of a Burt Bacharach and the obsessively polished romanticism of a Roxy Music.

But although Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry peppered his ornate creations with a constant undercurrent of irony and kitsch, there’s no hidden agenda, no underlying sarcasm, in Cousteau’s darkly melodramatic universe.

The band’s no-nonsense approach was apparent Monday at the Troubadour, when the combo (enhanced by guitarist Tom Clues) performed its sophisticated brand of nocturnal chamber pop with the kind of self-centered conviction one encounters in a young poet in love with the concept of being in love.

Cousteau has catchy hooks to spare. In fact, the addictive melodies of such tunes as the soulful “Talking to Myself” and the jazzy “After the Fall” made for a certain sameness of character in the group’s material.

In lead singer Liam McKahey, the band has found the perfect spokesman for its twisted aesthetic. A charismatic crooner who switches between a comforting baritone and an edgy falsetto, McKahey began Monday’s set dressed in an old-fashioned jacket, snapping his fingers like a young Sinatra.

The group’s other key member, Beirut-born multi-instrumentalist Davey Ray Moor, was absent from Monday’s show because of visa problems.