Melefluent brings smooth moves to The B-Side

When Melefluent’s name is on show fliers, it’s often mistaken for a punk or metal band.

“We have a rep as a metal band,” said guitarist, bassist and vocalist Joe Welk. “Maybe that comes from the name. Someone told me the ‘mele’ part reminds them of mêlée.”

The name – an altered spelling of mellifluous – is a fitting description of the Coeur d’Alene funk-blues- hip-hop-reggae band’s sweet, smooth sound.

Melefluent – Welk, guitarist, bassist and vocalist Darren Wilson, and drummer and vocalist Joe Cresge – appears Saturday at 9 p.m. at The B-Side with Oregon’s heavy melodic soul-rock combo Floater, Boston’s punk-jazzers The Carcinogens, and local singer-songwriter Annie O’Neill. Tickets are $10, through TicketsWest (325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com) and 4,000 Holes, 1502 N. Monroe St.

With its members constantly switching instruments between songs, Melefluent is no stranger to playing musical chairs. On Saturday, another chair will be added to the circle because Cresge has a broken hand. Corey Bissaillon, guitarist for Coeur d’Alene band Uptime, will sit in on skins. Cresge still will sing his lead and background vocals.

Melefluent started with Welk and Wilson as the instrumental jam band Saturated Phat, which included drummer Jesse Bishop, skins man for the now-defunct Seattle funk-jazz trio Discohesive.

Eventually, Cresge replaced Bishop, and Melefluent was formed in 1999. After taking a year off from music in 2001, Welk, Wilson and Cresge became skilled enough on their instruments to sing and play at the same time, and they reunited with a cleaner, more accessible sound.

But that doesn’t mean any of their 30 radio-length originals won’t morph into 10-minute jams during live performances.

The group adds contrast with occasional covers of the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Flaming Lips and Beck.

“The covers are a great way to break in a new crowd,” Welk said.

And that’s exactly what Melefluent is aiming to do.

The trio has been playing more gigs in Spokane in the past couple of months and plans are in the works to tour a new album, “Leap Before You Look,” in southern Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada and California.