The Chairs deserved a post a lot earlier than this. I have been enjoying their November EP for a few weeks now, but somehow I managed to push this post back. The Chairs are a band from Wisconsin that are slowly gaining lots of blog buzz thanks to their very strong EP. One of the EP highlights right from the get go for me was their cover of the masterful Neutral Milk Hotel’s ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea’.
‘Dark Clothes’ is a solid way to start the EP setting the mood just right. The NMH cover is absolutely on the money. Lead singer Alex Schaaf displays impressive vocal’s, along with his bands fine instrumtation that give a call to one of the best modern rock songs of all time. Dark deep bass gets ‘Fire And Ice’ started along with simple yet effective drumming and leads into a modestly paced song. The simple but effective playing is what makes this debut so impressive. There are some cool effects hidden beneath the surface, letting Alex’s vocals do most of the talking.
The highlight of the EP is ‘Polly’. It starts off with space-like effects and develops into a solid rock jam. It is quite a song. This November EP is a very good introduction to The Chairs. There is a lot of talent here. The band showcases their ability to play simple rock songs, as well as adding distorted dirty guitars. ‘I Gotta Go’ ends the EP appropriately with a frenzy of distorted fuzzy guitars that floats near shoe gaze. These guys have a lot of different territory of sound that they can hit. I am excited to see what they sound like live, and to hear what a full length of theirs would sound like.
Don’t let the Chairs out of your sight. They are going to be making lots of waves in 2009.
[mp3] : The Chairs – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
[mp3] : The Chairs – Polly
