| On the first of May, 2003, I received an
email from a promising young band called The Changes, listing the tracks of a demo CD I'd
picked up the prior night at a somewhat sparsely attended show at the Hideout. The group
had won me over with its smart and peppy set of brief but powerfully charged pop songs,
which married Strokes-esque, quip-equipped, essentialist garage rock savoir-faire with
tantalizing traces of jazz flair and post-punk imagination. It turned out the band became
among my year's most improbably memorable young discoveries. Eight months later, The
Changes have issued their first official self-released EP, serendipitously titled First
of May (after a coincidentally appropriate line from one of the band's songs:
"Sent you once a letter / You got it on the first of May.") On December 18 at
the uber-hep Empty Bottle, this still little-known band proved they already have enough
material to fill a solid full-length album, charming a large, nearly venue-filling crowd
(the majority of which dispersed shortly after they finished what was only the evening's
opening act, indicating an impressive portion of the audience had come for--and presumably
been satiated by--The Changes).
First of May, which was recorded by
Jeremy Lemos (Sonic Youth, Wilco), includes three new songs as yet unheard on demo CDs,
each of which display a heartily encouraging degree of blossoming in the band's range of
expression and skill. The new creations are more richly produced and industriously
arranged than the engaging two-minute garage rock songs they had previously unveiled.
Taking the emphasis off the "punk" in
post-punk and putting it on the "post-," The Changes upped the jazz content (on
the show-stopping "Her You & I") and progressed in their evocation of the
Police from their earlier nods toward that band's novelly nuanced guitar-drums-bass punk
rock to (on the polished "Why Did You Wait So Long" and "1984":) a
fresh spin on the Police's more glossy, reverb-bedaubed sounds of the early-to-mid 1980s.
The result is ripping good fun. "Her Your
and I," which ended the Empty Bottle set to thoroughly enthusiastic response,
presents a teasingly skeletal and perhaps deceptively innocuous story that can be read (or
perhaps more accurately, read into) as a tale of a menage a trois. After opening with
McCartney-esque melody and faintly Blood Sweat & Tears-esque mid-tempo jazz chords,
the song eventually explodes. Three minutes in, the band breaks for thirty seconds of
inspiredly snazzy snare soloing by drummer Jonny Basofin, then simmers to a boil for
thirty more seconds of increasingly revved-up soloing on tom-toms and guitar. From there
we charge headlong into heady jam madness (befitting the chaotic end to which all
fictional threesomes are inevitably doomed, though if this interpretation is intended it
could use a line or two more to lend it definition). It's an ambitious song for a young
band, and even live the Changes pull it off with little trouble and much verve.
The EP's second track, "Why Did You Wait So
Long," introduces the Changes' recent experiments with new sounds: reverb, dubbed
harmonies, and electronic sound effects that remain consistent with the post-punk palate.
A fluttering undercurrent of low-voltage noise runs through this engaging mid-tempo song
before flickering out dramatically like some early Radiohead demo. Apparently not through
fiddling about with these tricks -- no doubt the belching emissions of the kind of low-fi
computer device music geeks like to call by names like "Moogerfooger Ring
Modulator" and "Z. Vex Seek Wah" -- the band has hinted there may be more
experimentation with computers in the band's long-term future.
"1984" introduces the intellectually
creative spirit of art rock, couched in a rich instrumental web of nostalgic '80s-style
electric guitar effects that eventually gives way to a single lyric: "I only care
about myself." Evoking the titular year both with the ironic Reagan-era sentiment of
self-ism and the retro-stylistic bravura, the song's spiritual older sibling may be the
Police's similarly echo-laden semi-instrumental "Voices in my Head" (c.1980). I
like the driven yet dreamy "1984" at least as well as its conceptual
predecessor.
The EP also includes two of the tracks from the
band's earlier demos, which show off songwriter (and lead guitarist) David Rothblatt's
impressive ear for agreeably urgent and sometimes deliciously discordant rock arrangement,
as well as his knack for subtly clever humor and melody.
Vocalist and guitarist Darren Spitzer perfectly
acts Rothblatt's characters on the record, shifting between the lunatic nerve of a Julian
Casablancas and the sweet, versatile tenor of a Paul McCartney.
In prior gigs, The Changes have shown a kind of
stylistic versatility and musical literacy they haven't quite yet had the chance to show
in their recordings, covering old time classics, incorporating country steel pedal and
jazz sax, and even appearing at a Halloween show in cover-band "costume" as the
Clash (the incendiary lead lick of whose "London Calling" is echoed in First of
May's "That's Not True"). At the Empty Bottle show, the band focused solely on
their original material, making it perfectly evident their own creations can hold their
own. They have built a solid sound with room to grow and diversify, and an apparent
ability to mature quickly.
The band deserves attention, and things have
already begun to happen for the talented foursome. Rothblatt and bassist Rob Kallick have
been invited to assist with the next Aluminum Group album, joining a large club of notable
locals (including members of Tortoise and The Sea and Cake) who have helped out that duo
in past recording sessions. Rothblatt has also been tapped by local singer-songwriter
Azita. Spitzer, meanwhile, will play a solo gig at the Metro on a bill with players from
three other local bands, showcasing his supply of what are reportedly country-tinted
originals.
The Changes have also clearly made fans of
comparative local vets the Watchers, who followed the young band's set at the Empty Bottle
(for the smattering of concert-goers who hadn't scattered before the Watchers' 11 p.m.
showtime). The latter band plays tight, funk-heavy rock with almost a-melodically
wacked-out tunes and a frontman with more personal quirks and ticks than David Byrne.
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