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BANDS: Punk
& Ska INTERESTS: Venues ETC... About
LOTD
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The Chance:
Self-Titled
The novelist Walker Percy was apt to claim that human beings were never as at home as they were when they dealt with tragedy and chaos. He argued that we have a perverse longing for the horrible; its what makes us feel truly human and alive. For Percy, humans are aliens in the world anywaysour souls ripped asunder by the dualism between body and mind. When tragedy strikes, we are dragged down from that unbearable lightness of our mental selves and nailed concretely into history. This nail, however, has a cruel price that few of us would voluntarily seek out. The Chance, a three piece out of Arlington, Virginia, creates music that has the effect of recreating this situation. What starts out seeming like math-rockish punk in the vein of Fugazi quickly transforms into a sublime mixture of moods and emotions. Two different singers vie for controls on their songs with Joshua Padgett sounding like a more mature and more pissed of Ian Curtis and Pierre Davis exuding a relaxed, more subdued melancholy. While most of their songs are very energetic, The Chance bears the unmistakable mark of Joy Division and Bauhaus. Dont get me wrong this is not the bullshit Interpol-esque Joy Division, a creation of recent music critics; rather it is the raw, elemental Joy Division of their early EPs and singles. The problem with this comparison, aside from being unoriginal, is that it doesnt really get to the heart of their sound. Sure, there is the Sturm und Drang of the early Joy Division, but there is also an extremely proficient technical backbone in the rhythm section and more complex and interesting melodies floating above the fray than you find in Joy Division or in most bands for that matter. Their songs are complex without being boring and intense, yet they are also thoughtful and intricate. There is none of the Byzantine silliness that is so often found in the records of punk bands that try to make more serious thoughtful music. Every note, every rhythm has a point, a reason for existing. There is nothing more exciting than putting this record in for the first time and hearing the staccato bass lines that force the first song into action. As the album progresses, the themes that are developed early on are expanded and then amplified. When the album has finished, only a person who had no interest in music whatsoever would refrain from starting it over again. This is, without a doubt, one of the best and most interesting records of the year, and there is nothing more to say about it than that.
This album can be purchased at The Chance Official Website About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
