Amy Domingues is busy. Aside from being a full time cello teacher, and aside from being the go-to cellist for local musicians (having played on records by Fugazi, Bob Mould, Ted Leo, Jenny Toomey, and Benjy Ferree, among many others), Amy also has her own band, Garland of Hours. The band is a shifting cast of characters; past players include Brendan Canty, Devin Ocampo, Jerry Busher and Mary Timony, and pretty much any of Domingues’ friends that can play with her at any given time. And sometimes, Garland of Hours is just Domingues all by herself.

Last month at the Black Cat backstage, playing as a full band, Garland of Hours celebrated the release of The Soundest Serum, the follow-up to 2003’s eponymous debut. The new record finds Domingues more confident taking center stage, with a much greater emphasis on vocals than on the largely instrumental first record. Most impressive is the way she manages to make such disparate influences coalesce into a thoroughly unique sound, blending a love of Renaissance and early classical music with folk and post-punk, and even hints of psychedelia. The effect is both modern and timeless, sometimes delicately beautiful, sometimes gut-punchingly heavy, particularly when she lets the cello growl angrily in its lower register.

Live, the band is dynamic and responsive, looking to Domingues for cues from her position at either the cello or the keyboard. At the end of the show, Domingues came out by herself and played a beautiful Lungfish cover accompanied just by her cello and a tape loop. One gets the sense that she is willing to try to mix anything that strikes her fancy into her sound, and that kind of attitude is just what makes the project so refreshing to listen to.