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The Minor Thirds are sweet and sour sauce. They are agitated and relaxed, confident and insecure, weary and excited to see you. Their smile shines, like a knife. They are ambitious homebodies. They invite you in for tea and ask you personal questions that nearly make you cry. Should you laugh at their jokes? Was that even a joke? Nearly.
The Minor Thirds are a band from Portland, Oregon whose latest album is called Nebraska From Afar. It tells the story of two people who meet up unexpectedly in a pancake house in Omaha. They fall in love and drive off into the night. But morning comes and they're still driving, and as they travel from town to town they soon find themselves at each other's throats, plotting each other's destruction. The ending - not to spoil the ending - is problematic but hopeful. It ends mid-sentence, with a comma.
The Minor Thirds are Chris, Charlotte, Jake, Casey, Martin, and whoever joins in. They play a jittery classical guitar, an upright bass, a snare and cymbal, and add whatever they can -- accordions, trumpets, theramins, tiples, ad hoc gospel choirs. Chris and Charlotte's voices alternate, harmonize, and wrestle. Melodies and lyrics get bandied about like water balloons in a fire. They promise it will be fun. Come in from the rain, they say, and have some tea. They promise not to make you cry. They promise.