When I say, "independent rock from Chicago," you think of Wilco, Bound Stems or perhaps even the Smashing Pumpkins - current faces of indie and a genre pioneer, respectively - as bands who procured and continue to shape the current face of the Chicago rock scene. Chicago-bred five-piece Chin Up Chin Up fits right into the distinctive Midwestern niche with a sound directly reflecting the forefront of independent Chicago music.
The band's sophomore effort, "This Harness Can't Ride Anything," is a melodic montage of thought-through percussion, distinctive guitar lines and pristine production, a combination likely to establish the band among their heavy-hitting indie kindred spirits.
The album opens with the title track, one of the strongest songs on the record. It does an excellent job of setting the pace for the tracks to come and opens up the door for consistency and coherence - not monotony - as the record progresses.
Thirsty for their own vibe, the band's unique brand of spacey-folk helps to infuse the songs with an ambiance Chin Up seems to mark as theirs alone. The title track also showcases Chin Up's technique of electric-acoustic layering, which decorates the album, giving it a notably bright and full sound.
Vocals are a stark contrast to the cleanly produced instrumentals of the record; strikingly unpolished, they don't quite fit with the majority of "Harness"'s percussion, synth and guitar lines. The clash, however, is not abrasive, and generally gives the vocals their own specific place on the record as atonal yet soothing.
Vocalist Jeremy Bolen uses a few different types of tones throughout the tracks, and though his sound is not meant to be polished, he sounds flat and somewhat droning in certain tracks, such as "Blankets Like Beavers." Regardless, vocals do add to the mix, but Bolen's voice is one that many may have to warm up to.
Because the vocals do not lead the record, "Harness"'s instrumentals are its most impressive component. Blended chords and natural harmonies create the wild fullness of a band like Broken Social Scene - a feat not achieved accidentally.
Simple but intense lead lines are minimalistic but deep and evoke inklings of bands such as Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate. On the percussion end, it wouldn't be a stretch to say "Harness" is a percussively important record; rarely do you find a rock album led so strongly by its drum parts. Additions of a marimba, vibraphone and other percussion instruments bring an entirely fresh (and remarkably unpretentious) groove to the record.
Perhaps the primary reason why it's easy to see this band progressing towards the stature and notoriety of their fellow hometown heroes is because, like bands such as Wilco, Chin Up uses their music to define their place in a flurry of disingenuous indie and folk-rock ensembles.
A visionary and incredibly mature record, "Harness" is not the product at the end of the assembly line created by pre-packaged fashion-indie bands and their major label record leaders. "Harness" has the perfect swing for hearts, hips and tambourines, as well as the production, sophistication and voice for a band with the potential to make a mark on the current state of music in Chicago and beyond.
