Seattle's Siberian plays indie pop that's beautiful and muscular, gliding easily between shimmering heights and glittering angularity. The fact that Siberian has only one album...under its belt is surprising given the confidence that shines through.

I can totally sympathize with those who strategically try to arrive at a show at the exact moment that the headliner takes the stage, but sometimes if you show up early you can luck into seeing openers that absolutely kill. Such was the case at Neumo's on Saturday night.

I spent most of Siberian's set astonished at just how good they were and baffled by who they reminded me of. Had I heard them before? Do I own their CD? Now I remember that their lush shoegazy guitars probably sounded so familiar because I listened to a few songs on their website a couple weeks ago when I saw that they were playing with Wolf Parade.

Finn Parnell's vocals occasionally got lost in the mix, but that seemed pretty o.k. since their music is more about cascading waves of pretty simmering guitars, their interplay, and eventual roaring climaxes. He also forgot bandmate Zach Tillman's birthday, but any minor tension resulting from this oversight was quickly remedied with a shot of whiskey as the band moved on to satisfy the shouted requests from the audience ("... some songs are good, and some songs we play in the middle.") as they led to a crowd pleasing finale. Now, instead of wondering who they sounds like, I'm going to switch to being puzzled over why they aren't a little more famous.

On the band's forthcoming debut full-length, With Me, the prospect of finding love and freedom is the continuing theme. The ripping opener, "Belgian Beers and Catholic Girls," "Paper Birds" (off Hey Celestial!), and the bold closer, "Islands Forever," are in harmony with the album's overall fluctuating motions. Obviously, Siberian have all the ingredients to yield worldwide megastardom, but for now, we shouldn't be terribly disappointed that they're still our little secret. -Travis Ritter

The debut release from Seattle-based quartet Siberian represents that rare breed of first album that shows not only the band's future potential, but also an actual mastery of production and composition. Too often up-and-coming bands are stifled by a lack of confidence and creativity when they get to studio, resulting in underwhelming and disengaging albums that do little more than replicate their live performances. Siberian alternatively gives us With Me, a collection of 11 songs that are as fully realized and compelling as anything yet to be released this year... it is clear that Siberian is soon to be launched out of the Seattle underground and into the realm of indie mainstays. There is not a single song on With Me that is not inventive, catchy and all around well produced, and as debut albums go, this is second to none.