The Love Language help break in Motorco Music Hall

Durham's shiny new Motorco Music Hall is off to a fantastic start when it comes to hosting shows with great, mostly local acts. Saturday night's Love Language show was no exception.

First up was Cashes Rivers, a folksy rock quartet out of Des Moines, Iowa. They played a short set that was a bit lackluster, though certainly not bad. Towards the end of their set, they handed out kazoos to encourage audience participation, which delighted the few people who got one.

Album Review: Cashes Rivers - Cashes Rivers

The music of singer songwriter Matthew Garcia shines on the self-titled debut album from the Des Moines collective Cashes Rivers.

The band stretches its wings, trying out a variety of sounds on the album. The bombastic folk sound of "Tracks" is reminiscent of Okkervil River, especially on the song "Tracks" while "Our Boats" is similar to The New Pornographers or Ted Leo.

The groovy rhythm and clavinet on "Man Made of Mud" harkens back to the British invasion. The chugging acoustic song "Local Drunk" even borders on emo (I know that's a scary word, but it's not a negative here).