DOWNLOAD THEN SEE: Seafarer
By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 2, 2010 9:42PM
With cold weather finally upon Chicago, it’s easy for the city’s residents to feel defeated. And yet, press forward we must. Winter’s icy grip may be at our backs. But there are jobs to find, errands to run, and life to generally carry on with. (Soul-crushing wind chills be damned.)
The best soundtrack for these daily affairs acknowledges the push-and-pull effects of the season. There’s the world-weariness of the gray, drab setting, sure. But if you stop and listen once in a while, you just might hear the beating, pulsating heart of a broad-shouldered city determined not to let the achromatic milieu drag them down. And whose music should color those who live lives of not-so-quiet desperation? Seafarer’s, for one.
The quartet’s self-released EP, Hiding Places, is set for re-release next month, so now’s as good as time as any to check them out. For starters, peep “Noise Floor,” which, contrary to its name, will not inspire mass spasms amongst moshers and speed-niks.
Rather, the slow, shimmering guitar chords and calm, insistent drumbeat allows for a driving, yet introspective sonic template. It’s here that singer Patrick Grzelewski lays out his bittersweet nostalgia trip: “When you were young, there was a calming swell of restitution” goes the opening line.
Restitution for what? We’re not quite sure. But once the band downshifts into a spacey, atmospheric section around the 4:40 mark, all concerns are lost amongst the musical stars. Amid inspiring crescendos and uplifting, barely-there background harmonies, listeners can get the sensation that all is going to be alright. For this winter, who could ask for anything more?
Seafarer, Dead Sheriff, Males and Females and House Sounds play Wednesday, December 15 at Subterranean, 2011 W North, 8 p.m., $8, 21+.