Maybe it’s because he’s a local boy — a rural New Jerseyan who spent the mid-’00s fronting Philly dance-punk faves Hail Social — or maybe it’s the endearingly modest, almost painfully insular homebody persona he presents in his disarmingly candid interviews. But it’s been particularly gratifying to follow Davye Hawk’s musical development and progression in his work as Memory Tapes. Following a shimmering, revelatory 2009 debut, Seek Magic, and 2011’s more overtly song-oriented but less sure-footed and somewhat anemic Player Piano, Hawk returned in December with Grace/Confusion (Carpark). It’s an aptly titled set of six serenely sprawling, shape-shifting tracks that stretch and reconfigure his familiar array of soft-focus sonics (drawn from indie rock, dream-pop, gently fluid electronic dance music and all manner of warmly gleaming synths) into richly detailed miniature suites.
Tue., Feb. 5, 9 p.m., $12, with TEEN and Gracie, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.
