If you would indulge me for a moment, I’ve hit upon a semi-coherent (but mostly gross) metaphor for Cobalt Cranes. Have you ever pissed on a campfire? In seconds the flame is reduced to smoldering coals and the air is thick with smoke that smells of ammonia. Cobalt Cranes sound like hissing ammonia smoke. They sound like L.A. In a good way.

Let me start over.

Cobalt Cranes, based out of L.A., is a quintessentially Californian band that trades in buzzing bursts of tightly wound art-rock. Co-founded by Kate Betuel and Tim Foley, the two shuffled through a couple lineups before finally finding their band. The hissing ammonia smoke I (perhaps misguidedly) alluded to earlier is mainly the result of the band’s recording technique, which was born out of necessity.

“We only had one microphone, and we weren’t really concerned about placement,” says Betuel. “So, kind of without knowing we just created our sound.”

Their songs conjure up images of L.A. punks in bold shades blasting noise in dirty clubs. And so it seems to be. The boy/girl dynamics of Cobalt Cranes soften the edges of songs that threaten to be too cold. And just when you think you’ve got the band down pat, a song like the gently bombastic “Messy” comes along, with its guitar lick that’s surprisingly reminiscent of Chuck Berry. Cobalt Cranes is not afraid of tweaking and stretching its sound, and completely upfront when copping to influences.

“Our influences change a lot,” says Betuel, before she and Foley proceed to list off any and all bands that have affected them in the past and may again someday.

“The Vaselines, Redd Kross, the Wipers, Chuck Berry, Nirvana…” they say of what was influencing them at the time they recorded their upcoming EP, In Media Rez.

It’s all of a part, this L.A. thing.

[Le Voyeur, Cobalt Cranes with Johnny Cheeseburger, Christmas, Civita, Friday, Sept. 18, 8 p.m., no cover, 404 Fourth Ave E, Olympia, 360.943.5710]