Next up were Sister Cities, a minimal side project of Architecture in Helsinki. Guitar, clarinet, ba-ba-ba harmony vocals, a toy piano and some very lovely, sweet pop. At one point they did what I think may have been a Bruce Springsteen cover (though not that he'd recognise it). Anyway, they're playing again on the 4th at the Town Hall Hotel.
Then came Origami; a slightly punky two-girl indie-pop band (founded by a former member of a certain casiopunk outfit I keep going on about); mostly jangly indie guitars, with a few surprises (some banshee-like screams, and at one stage an 8-bar funk breakdown). Stewart joined them on drums and played really well (though he didn't think so).
Finally, Sarah Dougher came on and played a set, in a singer-songwriter sort of vein; fellow Oregonian Amy Linton of the Aislers Set joined her on drums.
<TANGENT>
Towards the end of their set, Origami did a short (and rather doovy) guitar/Casio instrumental named Nancy Drew; which got me thinking about the connections between a certain type of indie-pop and retro/childhood references.
Whether it's retro-hipster irony, indiekid neoteny, subversive punk culture-jamming, or some combination of all three.
</TANGENT>
Anyway, it was quite a good night.
What about Wesley Willis?
Seriously, punk and cute aren't mutually exclusive.
Well... Wesley Willis is another thing entirely. There's no-one to even compare him to.
Subversive punk culture-jamming never involves Casios. I think it's just called "trying to be cute".