Get Married To California Wives
By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 19, 2010 5:40PM
Chicago-based California Wives excel at making calming, thoughtfully arranged music that slowly soars on the wings of its identifiable influences. (Like-minded local brethren The Changes are a good reference point.) On their latest EP, September’s Affair, California Wives deliver five tracks that often begin unassumingly—see the ringing guitar chords and soft, but persistent drum beats in EP opener “Blood Red Youth”—but eventually build to a well-earned catharsis. The band does so by laying out each musical element in their sound simply: a sighing vocal here, a jangly guitar line there, and all glued together by taut bass lines and atmospheric keyboards.
The results of this approach can be quite fetching, as on songs like “Twenty Three” and “Guilt.” Additionally, California Wives know when to kick it up a notch. Thanks to a solid bass line, the propulsive “Purple” sounds like a punchier Death Cab For Cutie. Later on, both ambient soundscapes and a fuzzier guitar crunch are showcased on EP closer “Photolights.” But even when California Wives introduce new textures into their sonic palate, the results often feel the same: vaguely wistful and melancholic. Were Affair an album length, well, affair, the musical outcome could have been monotonous. As it is, though, California Wives’ EP is a breezy, tuneful record local music fans should definitely remember.
MP3: California Wives "Blood Red Youth"
California Wives DJ October 23 at Beauty Bar, 1444 W Chicago Ave, 10 p.m., FREE, 21+
California Wives, 1000faces, Elephant Stone, and The Idle Hands, play on November 12 at Bottom Lounge, 1375 W Lake St., $8, 17+