Smith Westerns, Not There Yet But Self Aware

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 5, 2010 5:40PM

Have you heard the debut from Smith Westerns? I have, and it kind of blows. I understand the vibe they're going for, lo-fi garage "pop," but the execution is flawed resulting in a collection of songs that sound like fuzzy third-gen carbon copies of each other. Despite that the band has been riding a wave of ever growing buzz over the last year. Now I haven't seen them live yet, and from what I've heard their sets are fucking face-meltingly terrific, but 99.9% of the people buying into their hype haven't seen them either so the only thing they have to go on is the band's recorded output. So why are they talked about / fringe famous / even worth my time ripping out a few keystrokes over them? Despite their album not living up to its reputation I have great hopes for this little group because a) they're young and still learning and b) they KNOW they're young and still learning. This little snippet from a Trib profile of the band underscores both their own self-awareness and the glimmer of hope that even Pitchfork is grappling with the music media cycle they've been complicit in creating:

But right now, to borrow their own phrase, they are a blog band, their initial success launched by a handful of influential music blogs. In this, Smith Westerns — "There's no 'the' in Smith Westerns," corrects guitarist Max Kakacek, "it's just Smith Westerns" — are not unique. Far from it: "The pace that (blogs) spin out new bands can feel like a 24-hour news cycle," said Scott Plagenhoef, editor of Chicago-based Pitchfork, arguably the most influential music blog in the sphere the Smith Westerns occupy. "Smarter bands know people come back for quality, not because everyone is or isn't talking about them. But it can all seem so ephemeral."

[snip]

What does it feel like to stand at this point? At this moment when tomorrow could be like Christmas morning or tomorrow could feel like jury duty?

It feels, said Cameron Omori, bassist for Smith Westerns, "like we have this shot and if we blow it, we're done."

They're already making huge strides on their latest song "Weekend", so I'm looking forward to watching them grow into the expectations the bloggerati have lavished upon Smith Westerns. If you want to see them grow too head over to Lincoln Hall tonight to catch their last Chicago show of 2010.

Smith Westerns play tonight, November 5, at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N Lincoln, 10:30 p.m., $12, 18+