The more I listen to Chairlift, the more I like them. I had listened to this 3-person Brooklyn band a little bit before seeing them at Chop Suey on Monday night and had watched their "Planet Health" video (which everyone should check out since it is just a wee bit strange and a little trippy). With lyrics such as, "I visited the food pyramid/In the desert of vitamins/I found a desired heart rate/And a mouth to resuscitate," who can resist being a little intrigued?
On their 2008 album Does You Inspire You, lead singer Caroline Polachek impresses with her rich and eclectic vocals (check out "Territory" and "Make Your Mind Up"). I was actually surprised that the owner of this voice belonged to a slightly nerdy, skinny girl wearing a huge 1980s-inspired dress shirt complete with sequins. She spent the evening hovering over her keyboard, at times aggressively bobbing her head to the more upbeat songs. Their performance of "Evident Utensil" and "Bruises," their most popular song so far due to iPod commercials, were the highlights of the evening. These two very danceable numbers had the most power of all the songs in their set. Polachek playfully explores her high vocal range while bandmate Aaron Pfenning contrasts her with his deep, breathy vocals. However, I found myself disappointed that their sound came out muddled due to the not-so-great sound system at Chop Suey.
Chairlift's performance at Chop Suey was short and sweet. But in that short 30-minute time span that they were on stage, you could see the flickers of the greatness that Chairlift might one day achieve.
