Xpressway 2 Luv: Boycrazy's Jeff London, Rachel Blumberg, Bryce Edwards and Alan Harris.

Picture the ideal relationship: Two independent, compatible adults, at peace with themselves, find love that thrives on difference and mutual understanding. Ah, bliss. If you follow this line of Dr. Ruthian logic, the members of Portland pop powerhouse Boycrazy are an awe-inspiring example of perfect coupledom.

But, good Lord, there are four of them.

Like an ordinary, duo-type couple, Boycrazy has survived challenges to their relationship, including severe changes in the lineup. Five years ago, Boycrazy started with just Bryce Edwards and Rachel Blumberg, a happy pair who discussed crushes on cute boys between songs. After several incarnations and a national tour (including New York's prestigious Knitting Factory and the CMJ New Music Festival), Edwards and Blumberg recorded demos for what would become their debut album, Foreign Words. New Boycrazies Jeff London and Alan Harris joined in.

Now a functioning foursome, Boycrazy's secret is revealed when you see them on stage together. The love is palpable. London bounces around carefree and happy, usually on bass, while Edwards, the heartily flamboyant image of indie-pop without a care, leads on vocals and guitar. Keeping it together on drums, Blumberg sings loftily along with Bryce. Harris, the cynical smart-ass of the outfit, grooves with it all, occasionally chiming in vocally.

To watch Boycrazy perform is like witnessing a tightknit family that never fights. It's all bouncy harmonies and sunny drumming, like the Partridge Family sans off-stage calamity. While the band itself seems devoid of discontent, unrest seeps its way into Bryce's lyrics instead, creating an oxymoronic world of cotton-candy cynicism in a super-pop format (see record review, page 38).

The happy foursome revealed the inner workings of their compatibility--their keys to a healthy luv connection--to me. Boycrazy works because all four members have their own solo careers and other collaborations, and because they all rock.

London, a fixture on the Portland singer-songwriter scene, says it feels good to give himself up to commitment for a change. "It just felt natural from the get-go," London says. "I totally understood what they wanted and loved the way we told each other what we thought was right. It's been a really nice process, just getting close to people and being able to be a supportive musician. I've always had my own band. This is just lighter."

Harris also has extra-Boycrazy duties with the Bill Pullmans. In a rare break from snappy wisecracking, he sagely explains Boycrazy's true secret: "My favorite part about being in this band is that we're all kind of like musicians in our own right, and coming together, it's just totally Gestalt, like the sum of the parts is equal to way more than everything."

Aww. But it's true.

Blumberg divides her time, playing in Boycrazy, Norfolk and Western and helping children write music. "It's nice for me to play in Norfolk because we play with totally different bands than Boycrazy plays with and I really like cross-breeding between the styles," she says. "I think it's really good for people to not necessarily form any kind of niche or clique, but to be inspired by all kind of things."

Variety is also apparent in Boycrazy's musical influences, which stretch from pop like Left Bank, Portland's own Dear Nora and the Zombies to T. Rex and Indian raga. Amusingly enough, this latter interest seems to have lent some hippie sensibilities to Blumberg's whole view of the band.

"I like the idea of things happening organically," she says. "We love a lot of music. It just grows, like a plant. Water it, fertilize it, and it grows." After plenty of hippie jokes, the band agrees.

Another key to relationship success: adaptability. Edwards does most of the songwriting, then brings it to the group. "I'll write a song, and Rachel and I have played together for so long that a lot of times we'll sing together," he says. "I'll write some lyrics and we'll both sing them at the same time, but with harmonies. Every song, we just sort of approach it differently." On several songs, the Boycrazies go so far as to swap instruments, thus engendering a holistic understanding of the parts interacting within the songs. No one in the band thinks only about their own part. They all listen for the whole.

The fruit of such a brilliant set-up, of course, is a well-developed and cohesive expression that echoes the elusive happiness of its contributors. So the next time you're fighting with your boyfriend or pondering the mysteries of practical love, you would be wise to consult the masters of the union: the unstoppable genius of Boycrazy.