Parts & Labor and Soft Power, May 13 at the Black Cat

It hasn’t been that long since New York noise rockers Parts & Labor last released an album, less than 2 years in fact. But they kept such a breakneck pace from 2006 to 2008, with constant tours, three full-length albums and a couple EPs, that their recent downtime, which included lineup changes and side projects, felt like more of a hiatus than it really was. So it was exciting to see the band back in action and not at all rusty on Thursday night in Washington, as part of a brief run of east coast dates with D.C.’s own Soft Power.

Thankfully, it can’t be much longer before Parts & Labor to release a new album, since the meat of their set consisted of new songs, which combined synth skronk, punk rock rhythm section dynamics, and anthemic choruses as delightfully as on previous records. The band bookended their set on the Black Cat’s small downstair stage with more familiar material, opening with one of their best known singles, “The Gold We’re Digging,” and finishing with a trio of songs from 2007’s Mapmaker and 2008’s Recievers. “Fractured Skies” didn’t quite live up to its potential without the horn section of the song’s studio version, but still sounded fantastic, while the midtempo “Wedding In A Wasteland” felt almost like a majestic power ballad in the context of the band’s faster material.

In its current trio lineup, Parts & Labor is less heavy on guitar live than on record, with Dan Friel mostly sticking to a bank of synthesizers and effects, while bassist B.J. Warshaw and drummer Joe Wong bring the thunder behind the band’s signature noise attack. But for the last song of their 40-minute set, “Nowheres Nigh,” they drafted Mary Timony from Soft Power to guest on guitar, which brought a welcome additional texture to the proceedings.

Timony, a D.C. native who returned to Washington a few years ago, has been an indie rock vet since fronting the Boston band Helium back in the ‘90s. And Soft Power, which she formed last year after several solo albums, is such an apt band name that it could describe almost any of Timony’s projects over the years: gentle yet strong, feminine and masculine in equal measure. Like her previous bands, Soft Power punches up its indie rock with classic rock grandiosity and proggy alternate tunings and time signatures. Bassist Jonah Takagi sang about half of the songs in the band’s set, but seemed shy and noncommital in front of the microphone, in sharp contrast to the effortless charisma of Timony’s calm, almost deadpan vocals. And though she may enjoy sharing the spotlight with a bandmate, Soft Power can’t help but suffer by not letting the more confident Timony take the lead more often.

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