Eric Johnson, songwriter for the Fruit Bats, released two great folk-pop albums, Mouthfuls (2003) and Spelled in Bones (2005), before he and his band dropped off the musical map. At the time, Johnson had taken up performing with Subpop label-mates the Shins and more recently (however briefly) Vetiver. So, it’s exciting that the Fruit Bats have returned to the West Coast – and are toting some new material to boot. Despite his efforts to write darker stuff, Johnson’s songs are arrestingly catchy windows into the stops and starts of love. Considering that his work bore a certain resemblance to the Shins’ pop perfection even before shackin’ up with them, it’ll be interesting to see where their influence has taken him. Sera Cahoone’s songs feel like a deep bruise: invisible on the surface, but cold and heavy when you slow down to feel their weight. Between drumming in Carrisa’s Wierd and Band of Horses, and her solo writing in the Buck Owens/Patsy Cline tradition, Cahoone’s work will pull you in like an irresistible, familiar truth.

Sat., Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m., 2009