DOWNLOAD THEN SEE: Mittens On Strings

By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 29, 2009 8:00PM

Despite their playful sound, whimsical lyrics and adorable band name, Mittens on Strings is a serious ensemble making a name for themselves in the Chicago indie-folk scene. Their latest album, Let’s Go to Baba’s, is sort of a kaleidoscopic trip by way of wry, humorous narrative, backed up by a strange mixture of folksy, somewhat psychedelic, experimental Baroque pop.

Take, for example, “Flaming Pig.” It’s a symphonic tune that contrasts the rich, graceful tones of a violin with jangly guitar strumming and crude lyrics like, “a burnin’ hog ain’t fun.” This may be the album’s most energized track, and the rest have a more drone and dreamy quality. But the album manages to be entrancing rather than boring, and the tracks melt together appropriately like the fluid, spiraling thought process that follows a dose of hallucinogens.

We like that their sound is low-fi, as in they don’t fluff it up with layers of feedback and distortion and spare us from excessive, strained experimentation. Instead, the instrumentation is easy going and effortless, taking a back seat to the vocals which themselves are delivered in a Lou Reed-esque subtlety. The end result is the type of hypnotic, aural music made for quiet meditation or maybe losing yourself in a daydream on the long El ride home.

Give the album a free listen at Soungs Dot Org or download it for a suggested donation of $14. They’ll be performing songs from Baba's at the Empty Bottle tomorrow night, opened by Louisville indie act Second Story Man and local psych-rock quintet manbirdbelly. But if you can’t make it out to the show, you can also see Mittens perform on the local children’s music TV show, Chic-A-Go-Go, airing tonight at 8:30 p.m. and tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.

Mittens on Strings plays December 30 at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western, 9:30 p.m., $5, 21+