Wonderfully named, idiosyncratic singer-songwriter Eef Barzelay whose approach has been described as “Lou Reed singing Buddy Holly songs” spent fifteen-odd years fronting the rootsy, sometimes rollicking Clem Snide before that band fell apart personally and creatively in recent years. But on his own, Eef scored last year’s acclaimed indie flick Rocket Science, and just released his second solo offering, Lose Big, a fantastic collection of sharp, wry, understated indie-pop tunes. These days, his live approach and his life in general is much more laid-back. “My desire has been to get a lot quieter with music,” he told me last week. “I really dont wanna do a big rock thing anymore. And I have a family. I am a family man. That’s what I am, and I’m happy for that. I’m not gonna lose my family for rock ‘n roll. Sometimes I feel like rock ‘n roll is mad at me for that, because rock ‘n roll is a very demanding mistress. She wants it all, man. But yeah, I’m pretty happy with the way things are going now.”
Sat., Aug. 2, 9:30 p.m., 2008