The Moderate

The Moderate is a puzzling name for a rock ’n’ roll band, as portraying yourself as even-keeled doesn’t seem like a great idea in a genre of electrified thrills. But for this D.C. quartet, it actually does make sense. Like a political moderate in their capital home base, the quartet creates a mix of sounds that’s exceedingly rare. Equal parts classic rock and ’90s indie, The Moderate reaches across aisles to two areas of rock that don’t often overlap, or for that matter even admit they have similarities. The band's tones and tempos slack back like Built to Spill or Pavement, but their melodies and guitar licks rev with the proto-blues intensity of Clapton and cronies.

Formed in 2007 by friends and Raleigh ex-pats Jim Dempsey (singer/ guitarist) and Drew Marks (drummer), The Moderate have grown over the past four years into a lithe and inviting rock band. Steady drums and bass thump in the background as guitars prickle with lines that alternately soar with arena-ready grace and buzz about in dashes of distortion. Dempsey sings with bright confidence. Finding the middle ground between a country drawl and a hipster mumble, his voice is an unlikely combination of Gregg Allman and Doug Martsch. The Moderate manages to open up a dialogue between styles that rarely like to mingle, and they manage it with enough melodic intrigue and songwriting zest. They’ve come to balance disparate elements so well they might be better known as moderators; for now, we’ll take them as they are. —Jordan Lawrence