Rockin' Our Turntable: The Blisters Are Anything But Bored
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 4, 2013 6:30PM
On Finally Bored, the debut album from Chicago's The Blisters, this group of teenagers is sure to make a whole bunch of adults feel like massive musical underachievers. While the band is primarily known now due to Spencer Tweedy, son of Jeff, sitting on the drum throne this album should also raise the profile of his bandmates Hayden Holbert, Henry Mosher and Tory P-Lopez since this quartet is very much a band worthy of attention.
The Blisters started off as a rougher, more garage-y band when the guys were even younger and they've plugged away playing shows (usually still in bright daylight hours due to their ages) so they've had the chance to grow naturally into something unexpectedly mature sounding. We're sure recording at Wilco's Loft helped with the sonic clarity of the album's songs, and few bands this young would have the courage to wander so far outside the usual comfort zone to produce music this assured without some mentoring. The heart of the music is in its ability to stand alone entirely due to the songwriting and impressive musicianship of the four core members.
The band traverses territory populated by an unexpectedly spiny guitar playing that allows both guitarists to play slightly off-kilter counterpoints to each other that merge into memorable melodies. And while the tempos are primarily mid, they are never sluggish, and the rhythm section knows how to switch it up to add dramatic tension when needed. A particularly nice example of all of this coming together is "Police," that manages a number of shifts in its three and a half minutes that displays The Blisters' attention to detail and song craft.
Much of the music here sounds like it was made by graduate students in NYC circa 1996, hooked on the more tuneful side of indie, so if this is where the guys are starting from, we think they may actually be contenders for a longer career beyond their high school walls.
You can stream the entire album below, and the band is offering up the whole thing under a "pay what you want" for one month (though physical copies are also available for purchase).