I can think of only a short list of people/bands who are as representative of the contemporary Brooklyn indie vibe I enjoy more than Caroline Polachek and Chairlift. I didn’t think much subsequent to Chairlift’s album Something could top the enjoyment I experienced from that album. Yet, the band’s new release, Moth, possibly pushes past Something as far as artistic achievement and fan accessibility. Not only does the album have some crazy good, hook-filled pop tunes, like “Romeo” and the absolutely sublime “Crying in Public,” but the record is cohesively structured and consistently provocative, even in its lighter less pop-filled moments such as the soft grinder “Unfinished Business” and the synthy ode to the band’s love affair with Japan in “Ottawa to Osaka.” Polachek has said the album title Moth suggests a metaphorical combination of fragility and tenacity that emerge conceptually through its lyrics and mood. Yet, the strength of the record and of Polachek’s songwriting in general lies in the overwhelming, even at times desperate, emotion it dares to convey while still maintaining the fun of a synth pop album. A stunning example arises from Moth’s second single, “Crying in Public.” Polachek crafts a scene of a hopeless romantic experiencing an emotional breakdown on a New York subway ride (an occurrence that NYC subway riders fear even more than realizing they just sat in something wet that probably isn’t water). Fortunately, the loveliness of the chorus is enough to make a car full of uptight, rush hour A Train passengers joyfully embrace every panhandler and breakdance team member who dare enter through the sliding doors.
In spite of its New York indie vibe, Chairlift originally formed at my current place of employment, the University of Colorado, Boulder. It was here that Polachek, as a freshman art major, met Aaron Pfenning who together founded a creepy ambient music project to create atmosphere for haunted houses. Later, Polachek and Pfennig moved to New York, Patrick Wimberly would join Chairlift as the drummer, the band created the tweenie pop masterpiece “Bruises” for their first album, Does You Inspire You, the tune somehow got picked up as the background music for the iPod Nano adds, and Chairlift took off.
Recording great music, however, is only one dimension of Chairlift. Over the years, Polachek and Wimberly have constructed a project that produces a complete artistic experience, from music videos that glorify fashion and style, to amazing live sets featuring Polachek’s physical grace and Wemberly’s keen musical arrangements with a huge emphasis on rhythm. Soon after the release of Something four years ago, I caught my first Chairlift set at Webster Hall in New York and marveled at the show’s smooth musicality, but was especially entranced with Polachek’s elegant performance combining nimble dance and lovely vocals.
So it was back to Colorado, the state where it all began for Chairlift, for a show at the Englewood, Gothic Theatre (at one point in the show, Polachek mused, “I never would have dreamed of performing at the Gothic”). Having seen Chairlift before, I was expecting to groove out to a set of synth arrangements, however, the band has opted for a much less electronic touring ensemble that suits the live interpretation of Moth stunningly well. On the Something tour, Chairlift featured two performers on synths (Polachek played when she was not dancing around the stage), a guitarist, Wimberly on base, and a drummer. The current touring composition produces a much more intimate, sparing acoustic vibe with a guitar, Wimberly on drums this time (he occasionally played bass on numbers like “Bruises” where the band could get away with a drum machine), and a dude on saxophone who took over for Polachek on synths while she danced around the stage. Although surprising, I found the minimized electronic representation the perfect approach to capture the heart and soul of Moth by rescuing the underlying textures obscured in the studio recording’s production.
The show first and foremost was about promoting the new album, and Chairlift played it in its near entirety (leaving out only the album closer “No Such Thing as Illusion”), only deviating from the new material when reverting to a couple of the greats from past albums (“Sidewalk Safari,” “Amanaemonesia,” “I Belong in Your Arms,” and of course the tune that started it all thanks to the Nano, “Bruises”). The set had some great highlights, from the interesting slowed-down arrangement of “I Belong in Your Arms,” to Polachek’s harmonious duet with opening artist Starchild for the chorus of the dreamy “Crying in Public,” to the biggest surprise of the night, Aaron Pfenning taking the stage to shake some tambourine and sing the male vocal part in “Bruises” (Pfenning sang the part in the original recording). For me, the show’s most electrifying moment occurred with the live interpretation of “Unfinished Business.” The performance nicely emphasized the core nature of the tune – an atmospheric and evocative duet between Polachek’s haunting vocal and Wimberly’s snare beat.
With a run time of just slightly over sixty minutes, I left the Gothic feeling slightly disappointed as I could have listened to Polachek sing and Wimberly direct the rhythm of Chairlift’s other great tunes until well past midnight. I suppose there is always alumni week at the University of Colorado – maybe we can get Polachek to sing the national anthem as the lead off to the Buffalos devastating homecoming loss to the University of Arizona.