The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up's songs aren't exactly drinking music. Their slowcore, three-guitar swells seem better suited to self-pity on a cold winter night – with lots of smokes, a warm blanket, and a hissing radiator.

Maybe that mood, which dominates their recent LP, It's Winter Here, explains why so many people at Saturday's Cafe du Nord show didn't quite know what to do with themselves.

Crowds came in from the cold and filed into the lounge, clutching pricey cocktails and chatting before the show. But even after the Pile-Up dived into a lo-fi sound that managed to fill the room and rattle the chandeliers, the spot still buzzed with conversation. Halfway through the six-song set, most of the remaining fans were sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking alternately mesmerized and bored.

With an album full of seasonally appropriate music, the Pile-Up had the potential to be a perfect December offering in the warm-hued confines of the club. The Oakland-based quintet released It's Winter Here, their first full-length CD, in the spring on local label Absolutely Kosher, and they already have a second album in the works. They've opened Bay Area shows by bands such as Pedro the Lion and Sweep the Leg Johnny, and Saturday night they topped a bill including Jefre Cantu and Dilute. That show, a night full of less-accessible new material, failed to fully capture the attention of the audience, which probably hoped for more than just one It's Winter Here track.

To make matters more confounding, the band started with the slowest song of the night and refused to turn toward the crowd. Throughout the set the band members faced one another in V formation, like geese seeking warmer climes, with lead vocalist Paul Gonzenbach nestled comfortably near the back of the stage.

Staring at one another certainly kept the band tight – almost too tight, as the three guitarists mostly strummed the same chords at the same time throughout the first two songs, the still-working titled "Long Loud 2" and "Double Negative." The heavy bass line, forceful cymbals, and barrage of guitars gave their sound a lulling, layered quality reminiscent of the crescendos pioneered by bands like Slint and Mogwai.

But the accuracy of their chord strumming left the Pile-Up's first two offerings longing for an outstanding melody. Much of the band's emotional power comes from their vocal melodies, delivered by Gonzenbach in a sweet yet cynical tenor. Unfortunately, a bad mix left the usually captivating vocals swallowed by an overpowering rhythm section.

By song number three (another brand-new offering, titled "3+1") the band had begun to find a better balance between rhythm and melody but continued to leave the lyrics an indecipherable afterthought until launching into "Distance" and "Haunted Rooms." At first listen, these songs, alongside the two opening numbers, seemed to lack the diversity that sets apart the sounds on It's Winter Here.

The Pile-Up finally addressed their first album in the finale, the higher-energy and faster-paced "Peter Von Pinnon Final Draft." On this song a lead guitar came to the forefront, delivering an agile melody with shades of surf rock that occasionally erupted into raucous and attention-grabbing bursts of sound.