Cooleyhighharmony

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 27, 2006 6:29PM

The Bon Mots are a band that certainly doesn’t sound like one thinks they should. Comprised of members from a number of other local bands – including the grandiose Light FM, the punky Big Angry Fish and the new-wavin’ Wes Hollywood Show – the end result would most logically be something large, bombastic and musically daunting.

In fact the group’s genesis was built on premises to avoid just that sort of fate. Originally it was a throw-away side-project for all involved; a place for the boys to blow off some steam, write some lighter pop than they were known for and revel in a truly democratic situation. Gigs were few and far between and the whole project was as loose and as a band can be without totally falling apart. The Bon Mots hewed closely to their mandate and their mandate was to just have fun.

Then they had to go and ruin everything by recording a nearly perfect pop album.

With the release of their debut Le Main Drag the boys started to draw in all sort of press – local, national and international – and found that the fun, throw-away side-project was beginning to book more shows and draw larger crowds than the bands their “regular” bands’ gigs.

Actually, they should have seen it coming. It is hard for the average listener to resist the sort of tunes that primary songwriters Mike Coy and Eric Chial effortlessly toss off throughout the whole album. The sophistication of Gainsbourg’s breezy cafes gets yanked down by the group's more American garage sensibilities with the end result being a lovely amalgamation of sounds that lilt, pound and burrow into the listeners consciousness and hips. Literate and sexy, the band draws audiences into their web every time.

Tonight they are playing at Double Door along with Chicagoist favorite Brad Peterson and – the new project from ex-members of The New Constitution – the Greatest Hits.