"The road was uneven," says Kyle Hill. "It was eight in the morning and I was on my way to work. It was raining, and I was going southbound on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Seattle. There was a seam in the road that I tried to cross on my scooter. But (the scooter) never crossed it."

I've reminded myself on a number of occasions as I perused Vespa websites that scooters are twee death traps - similar, in a way, to owning a baby brown bear, dressing it like a dandy and watching as it grows big and hungry enough to take you out once and for all.

Or sort of similar to that. Or not at all. But back to the scooter.

"The scooter slid out from under me and I went about a city block," continues Hill. "A bus driver stopped in the middle of the road to help me to the side."

On the scale of two-wheeled assaults, Hill came out about as unscathed as one could hope for. He broke his arm, trashed his scooter and skidded through one of the two layers of jeans he was wearing, But he retained his ever-valuable skull and its irreplaceable contents. A close call, to be sure.

Saturday will see a benefit show at The New Frontier, held in Hill's honor, and thrown by Lino Fernandez, to help Hill out with medical bills and the repair of his scooter. Besides being involved in bands like the Dignitaries and Murder Party, Fernandez is also Hill's bandmate in the retro-pop outfit  Bandolier.

"I thought it was a cool thing, Lino putting it on," says Hill. "He called me up and asked me if I wanted to make it a benefit show, and I thought that it would put the show in a really positive mood. And to have all the fans of Goldie Wilson and Bandolier get together would be like some kind of great gathering of Juggalos and Maggots, if you will."

Hill will be performing at the benefit show not only with Bandolier, but with his other band, Goldie Wilson. Being that Hill is a keyboardist, the cast on his arm may prove to be something of a challenge.

"I'm going to be trying my best," says Hill. "Gonna be working on all cylinders, trying to compensate for the lack of a hand."

While both Bandolier and Goldie Wilson practice a retro-pop sound, they interpret the shared time frame of the mid- to late-1960s in different ways. Bandolier has the breezy, carefree feeling of a band that may have been featured in Pop Gear in 1965. Meanwhile Goldie Wilson, who has a new album due in the summer, approach the early days of psychedelia with a more nuanced edge than Bandolier.

Having only seen Bandolier live, I can tell you that the band carries an infectious energy with it. The music is meant to be accompanied by hordes of smiling young people - the kind you used to see on American Bandstand. It's nourishing in that great way only pop music can be. It fills a hole that - pre-rock 'n' roll - we never quite knew existed. I've poked fun at Kyle Hill in the past for being obsessed with radio hits, but there's no denying the power a great pop song continues to have over us.

Also on the bill will be DJ Melodica, aka Joel John Hodgson. With his deep, cavernous record collection, this should guarantee a night of musical exploration and celebration. All for the sake of Kyle Hill.

Oh, and confidential to Hill: once your scooter's fixed, I'd suggest practicing extreme caution. The last guy that toyed with a twee deathtrap was the owner of the Segway, and things didn't work out so great for him.

[The New Frontier Lounge, Bandolier, Goldie Wilson, Follow the Kites, Cardboard Clouds, Andy Glover, DJ Melodica, Saturday, April 30, 9 p.m., $5, 301 E. 25th St., Tacoma, 253.572.4062]