Originally starting out as a one-man vehicle for singer/songwriter Andy Cabic, Vetiver morphed into a revolving-door consortium before settling on a relatively stable lineup for its last two albums. Cabic’s working relationship with Devendra Banhart may make it all too easy to place Vetiver under the banner of Underground Folk Played By Modern-Day Bohemians With Long Beards, but Cabic clearly has a voice of his own. Over time, the one-time indie-rock guitarist has incorporated more electric instrumentation, but rather than simply switch between acoustic and electric modes, the band uncovers a vast middle ground in-between. Cabic has also managed to preserve the material’s quiet intensity, even as the band has grown around him. Of course, with such a laid-back attitude to bandmates coming and going, it makes sense that the music has a similarly laid-back, unhurried feel. Vetiver’s music has a lilting, pastoral quality that’s well-served by Cabic’s affinity for warm, 1970s production techniques, but it’s totally unfair to think of the band as a retro act. Cabic’s emphasis on craft may reach to the past, but the final product feels startlingly contemporary. Meanwhile, the highly astute musical interplay between guitarist Sanders Trippe and drummer Otto Hauser, now core members, helps anchor the music and provides the added attraction of a band dynamic to both the band’s new album, Tight Knit, and the live show. Photo courtesy Alissa Anderson.

Sat., April 18, 8 p.m., 2009