Last night at Mercury Lounge, I saw Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin open up for Chin Up Chin Up.
SSLYBY:
Their set opened up with four great songs, starting with "Oregon Girl," which rocked. The lead singer told the crowd that he was sick, so we all forgave him for his out of tune vocals. "Pangea" was really one of the highlights, but before they played their fifth song, the band switched instruments: the bass player became the drummer, the lead singer/guitarist because the bass player and the drummer became the singer/guitarist. Somewhere during that switch the bass and guitar went out of tune, and the band didn't bother to fix it. Somewhere during that switch, the band kind of fell apart.
Their next few songs were messy and the band just didn't seem to get it together. But by the last two songs in their set, they had pulled it together again. They knew that it wasn't their best set ever, but they still tried to have fun with it, jumping all around stage. Overall, it could have been better, but I wouldn't completely write them off.
Chin Up Chin Up:
I really feel that Chin Up Chin Up played a solid set last night.
Set-list below:
Maybe it was because they didn't go on until almost 11PM, or maybe they were just tired, but I thought the only drawback last night was that the band lacked the energy that I expected. The guitarist was really amazing though, working a million pedals and just hitting everything on point. I couldn't hear the vocals very well from where I was standing, but the drumming was solid and so was the bass playing and the guy on the keys.
Chin Up Chin Up played a good set, and I have no doubt they that are good musicians so I would definitely see them again. And as for SSLYBY, the jury's still out on them...
From S-Yo:
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Members:
Will – lead singer/guitar
Jonathan James – bass/drummer
John Robert Cardwell – singer/guitar
Philip Dickey – singer/drummer/guitar
The set opened up strong with four solid songs in a row, including
What’ll We Do
Oregon Girl
I Am Warm and Powerful
Pangea
The lead vocalist was sick and losing his voice, but that didn’t stop him from delivering some nicely tailored phrases and sweet melodic lines.
But…what happened next was catastrophic to their performance. The drummer switched to vocals/guitar and the bassist switched over to drums. I’m not sure what went down, but all of sudden the vocalists’ tuning really whacked out. I can’t remember it if was just one or both or what? But…something was definitely not right and not good and they couldn’t really capture the sounds they brought on earlier in the night.
In between songs they were very charismatic and obviously grateful to hit the road with Chin Up Chin Up; Phillip, their drummer/guitarist/vocalist, said: “We’re so happy to be here with Chin Up Chin Up, who are way more popular and better than we are. If they didn’t invite us along, we’d all be sitting in Will’s basement watching TV in Missouri.”
I still love this band, even if the tuning was an issue. They are young and have a lot of time, but obviously this is a problem they need to address ASAP! SSLYBY has everything working in their favor: good songwriting skills, tight ensemble playing, and a wonderful, captivating stage presence. Once they get the tuning kinks worked out, I think I will love them even more.
…
Chin Up Chin Up
Members:
Jeremy Bolen – lead vocals/guitar
Nathan Snydacker - guitar
Greg Sharp – keys
Chris Dye – drums
Jessee Woghim – bass
I was sad they didn’t really play many songs from the first album, We Should’ve Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers, which are the only works I know pretty well. (My fault for not getting This Harness Can’t Ride Anything beforehand) I couldn’t decipher if it was my fatigue or the band’s, but halfway through the performance lost a lot of energy; however, "Virginia, Don’t Drown" proved that when they are on, Chin Up Chin Up can truly deliver the high-energy, poppy sounds their albums promise. (Also, I should say I didn’t know most of the other songs. So perhaps it’s not really fair for me to comment on the delivery.)
I had difficulties hearing the vocals over the rich jungle of instrumentation; perhaps the balance was off-kilter or I was just standing too close to the house left speaker. I really wanted to hear Jeremy Bolen’s voice, which many critics describe as annoying at times, but I left not knowing for certain if I liked it or not (For now, I’m leaning towards the former).
That said, I really dig on this band. I’m not really sure what’s happening in Chicago, but I am loving the sound generated from this town. Chin Up Chin Up (and The Bound Stems) encompass a light, carefree attitude that permeates each song. Sometimes this serves as a foil for much darker lyrics and thus creates some very interesting songs.
I’d love to see CUCU again when I’m less sleepy and more well-versed in their catalogue. There’s so much potential for a truly amazing show.
