Solid Play at Offbeat ‘Demolisten’

No one can accuse the local underground of taking itself too seriously these days. Saturday night, when KXLU-FM (88.9) enlisted members of 19 Los Angeles-based acts to go solo for “Demolisten Night #34,” the cutting-edge smorgasbord of an evening yielded two Moog organs, a testy Fisher-Price turntable, a banjo, a Theremin and--calling all trend-watchers--three autoharps.

At the Impala Cafe, downtown’s bowling alley of a club, this chummy block-party-style showcase toasted acts that had been featured on Fred Kiko and Tony Kiewel’s demo-cassette radio program.

One of the shining stars was Bobsled’s Jula Bell, who slid gorgeously from Appalachian-style ballads to songs about movie stars and minivans. With a knockout voice and an electric autoharp, she wooed the crowd with grace and good humor. Banjo player Eddie French of Ukefink followed, balancing moody pathos with a jaunty sound.

Ushering in a strange transition from punk-tinged hillbilly folk and bluesy banjo to organ-centric Space Age disco, Sukia’s Grace Marks and Ross Harris donned flashing goggles and worked their Moog organs and drum machines like a giddy bar act from “Star Wars.”

But the days of the plain old guitar aren’t entirely dead yet. With just a six-string and a punchy, off-kilter voice, Abe Lincoln Story’s Steve Moramarco poked fun at rock stars with inflated egos in “Lame-o in a Limo,” and Dallas Don of Lutefisk showed off the exotic hooks and great songwriting that have garnered his group a loud local buzz.

Though nobody was complaining about the offbeat instruments, the standout sets didn’t coast on unusual sonic effects but simply reveled in solid songwriting and an ability to make people laugh.