| I have a theory about the recent wave of
nostalgia for the music of the early 80s. I don’t believe that the reason everyone
has been flocking to retro clubs is solely because they are dying to try out their old
Flock of Seagulls hairdos. I think that somewhere early in this decade musicians
forgot how to write good pop music. While Empire Day’s self released CD may not have
the power to put some much needed blood back into techno pop it is a step in the right
direction.
Empire Day does a lot of things right. They know that what
drives techno pop is a simple, clean bass line. They understand that while thick layers of
electronic sounds are the bread and butter of most electronic music today, nothing hooks
in a listener like a catchy chord progression. The only thing that seems to hold back
their songs is a chorus with a vocal line as addictive as their keyboards. The vocal style
of singer Marvin Hinman blends perfectly with the music, bathed in reverb and as pained as
the whining background guitars, but they never quite open up enough to make me want to
jump up and sing along.
I can easily image Empire Day becoming a hit at Chicago dance clubs like Berlin, the
old 950, and Exit where the crowd has to be burned out on dancing to the same Depeche Mode
and Cure songs they have been hearing since they were in junior high. There is a simple
reason that those kids still listen to songs from that era – they were good and few
bands since have been able to capture that delicate balance of youthful angst and pop-rock
optimism. Empire Day understands this balance. They can skate seamlessly between verses
with lonely minor keys that wash over you with thick warm sounds and these bridges were
they modulate to a major key for just a brief enough moment to bring this eerie hope to
their songs. If people can’t help but compare their music to the underground hits of
fifteen years ago I hope they take it as a compliment.
More
ChicagoGigs.com Reviews
Chicago Music Discussion Board
|
Empire Day
