Last Minute Plans: Judson Claiborne At The Empty Bottle

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 7, 2010 3:40PM

Having spent much of a periodically rainy, overcast and surprisingly cool weekend indoors, much of the city probably spent their free time scavenging their music collections for a record that would provide the perfect soundtrack for such weather. Hopefully, they came across Time And Temperature, the second album from Chicago quintet Judson Claiborne.

When Temperature is at its most successful creatively, Judson Claiborne combine differing elements and sounds from the same city to produce a somber, but inspiration mood perfect for bumming out to. (For example, on opening track “ Twilight Spirit”, it’s the soaring post-rock instrumentals of Tortoise and wistful vocal harmonies of Andrew Bird). That said, there are times when the group also sounds as of it's a little too enamored of its influences, as on horn-drenched Memphis-soul biter “Oh Cyril” and honky-tonk ballad “The Woman Inside of Me.” While there's some solid material, most of Temperature sounds like vanilla alt-country derivation.

Fortunately, before Time and Temperature can be dismissed as unremarkable imitation, the band begins to stretch their musical muscle for a strong second half, both in terms of increasing song lengths and by varying up dynamics. (See the lovely slow-burns of “My How We Change!” and “One Hundred More Than One Hundred Times”, both of which allow for auxiliary instruments to shine through subtly building crescendos.) After a wobbly first side, Time and Temperature proves itself to be the kind of record well-suited to rainy days and for intimate conversations in cavernous, low-lit music venues. Based on their shows at Chicago institutions like The Hideout, Judson Claiborne should a perfect fit for such an environment.

Judson Claiborne (with The Mynabirds and A Tundra), TONIGHT, 9:30 pm, The Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western, free, 21+