Seattle dwellers new to Michael Nau might find Maryland band Cotton Jones to sound a little like the Dutchess and the Duke’s East Coast-dwelling country cousin. Both bands rely on male-female duets — in Cotton Jones, the voices belong to former Page France frontman Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw — and like the Dutchess and the Duke, Cotton Jones masters that gritty ‘60s pop aesthetic. Paranoid Cocoon, Cotton Jones’ Suicide Squeeze debut, is a summery piece of roots pleasantry that showcases Michael Nau’s songwriting as well as his popular former folk band, Page France, once did — if not better. Last year, Nau laid Page France to rest to focus on Cotton Jones full time, and what was once a side project effectively replaced Page France on Suicide Squeeze. But Page France fans shouldn’t despair, because Cotton Jones doesn’t deviate too far from the folk songwriting Nau’s known for. And since this folk revival we’re experiencing doesn’t appear to be slowing down, there’s plenty of time for Cotton Jones’ music to worm its way into the hearts of all those West Coast hippies’ children. With Lightning Dust.

Fri., May 29, 10 p.m., 2009