All about Aument

Aument's sound runs the gamut from ambient lullabies to bubbly pop-rock. Her voice, which makes sweeping arcs in songs like “Walking” and “Kelly's Song,” resembles Sarah McLaughlin's crystalline soprano blended with Fleet Foxes' baroque brand of pop.

Other songs like “Couch Slouch” feature instrumentals that satisfy the chops of her bandmates, guitarist Kevin Muldoon, bassist Nick Imperial and drummer Brian Ludwig. Aument and her compadres create atmospheres of sound, some befitting a December night in Thornden Park, others feeding off the energy of a buzzed college audience.

The group frequently tackles a crowd-pleasing cover or two at their live performances, including an array of Sufjan Stevens tracks and a rendition of Radiohead's “Bodysnatchers,” which was recently recorded on SubCat Records. Radiohead's stretched rhythms, with vocals smoothed out in completely different phrasing, come naturally to Aument. She has a knack for layering lines and textures in her music.

Aument's debut album, Vertical Lines, (O, Morning Records), was released last September, bringing the band to the Top 10 of a national competition for a spot to play at Bonnaroo. Although the band came in third, Aument was still thrilled with the outcome. She blogged to her friends, “It is sad, but considering we {entered the contest} on a whim, we did super well! We got some awesome exposure but I nearly pulled my eyes and Kevin's hair out along the way.”

Word of mouth, solid connections and a whole lot of love opened a spot for Aument to share the stage with Syracuse's own Animal Pants and the headlining hipsters Best Coast. Boasting a music video for their song “Our Deal” that was directed by Drew Barrymore, Best Coast hails from the Left Coast’s Los Angeles, and is hitting up Syracuse one or two heartbeats before they ship off to the United Kingdom for the rest of their tour. The show comes almost exactly on the one-year anniversary of Aument's debut album. Tickets are $12. For more information, visit www.sarahaument.com, www.bestcoast.us or www.westcotttheater.com