Kelsey Heng on September 11th, 2013

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What Canadian synth-pop sextet Austra doesn’t convey in sound, they certainly project in their appearance. At their show Monday at the Echoplex – which followed a sold-out date in June at the Troubadour – they arrived in full persona, two men clad in plastic neon green rompers standing as pillars to four women on stage, each with a unique style and sound.

• ||| Gallery and recap by Kelsey Heng

The Canadians tugged at heartstrings to an enthusiastic and admiring crowd Monday, playing behind their new album “Polympia,” released this year on Domino. The
grand fascination with this group is that their overtly pop sound and heavy bass droning is juxtaposed with lead singer Katie Stelmanis’ raw vocal quality and sincerely harsh lyrics. While seducing listeners into a dancing trance, Austra allows Stelmanis to disclose some of her personal and blackened outlook on all things emotionally heavy. “Hurt Me Now,” indeed.

Fellow Canadians Diana, whose debut “Perpetual Sound” came out in August on Jagjaguwar, preceded Austra with their first Los Angeles show and left the crowd begging for a return visit. Telepathe, in L.A. working on their sophomore album with producer Lewis Pesacov, opened the night.