Kevin Bronson on December 8th, 2013

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PAPA’s homecoming show Friday night at the El Rey Theatre Sax felt every bit like a victory lap, the band having toured on a couple of continents during the pavement-pounding of its coming-out year. So the Los Angeles quartet anchored by singing drummer Darren Weiss and bassist Daniel Presant invited some friends to join the proceedings.

• ||| Photos by Kelsey Heng

And those pals – a trio of background singers and saxophonist Nathan Kersey-Wilson – helped elevate PAPA’s indie blues to a temple-pounding rattle. The band’s rawboned anthems sounded urgent even without Weiss’ extemporaneous swearing (perhaps a vestige of his early days as a punk-rock drummer) as he navigated the hour-plus concert with his thunderous hitting and lovestruck baritone.

The quartet’s debut album “Tender Madness” boasts a fully functioning brain to go along with its healthy libido – its come-ons range from arching and hopeful (“If You’re My Girl, Then I’m Your Man”) to sappy and romantic (“Get Me Through the Night”) to bold and lustful (“Let’s Make You Pregnant”). Come to papa, indeed.

On this night, the more crooning the better, thanks to the backing vocalists – Ethan Gruska (the Belle Brigade), Rachel Fannan (Only You) and Moses Sumney, who opened Friday’s show solo. On “Young Rut,” which makes a play at being the “Born to Run” for this generation’s anxiety-stricken (“Don’t know what I want / But I want it bad”), the trio’s vocals whoo-whooed all the way home.

PAPA threw in a raucous cover of Bowie’s “Modern Love” near the end before finished the main set with its twinkling, retro-flavored first song “I Am the Lion King.” After a short break, they returned for a memorable encore; they took their 2 1/2-minute shout-along “Put Me Work” and turned it into a two-part jam, splicing a cover of the Stooges “Search and Destroy” in the middle. It was abetted by a wicked sax solo from Kersey-Wilson.

Wardell, the indie-pop outfit fronted by Sasha and Theo Spielberg, preceded PAPA with a lively set that was heavier on charisma than memorable tunes. Opening the night was relative newcomer Moses Sumney, the one-man force of nature who, on this night, was losing a battle with nature, suffering from a scratchy throat and the beginnings of a cold. Sumney had opened for Thundercat the night prior. Still, his short set featured some Rhymin’ Simon-like folk songs, as well as a dose of his live-looped soul – songs built a part at a time from handclaps, beat-boxing, choral vocals and the like. As has been the case at his shows, audience participation ensued.