The Narrator Break Up - But Not Before Recording One of Their Best Songs Ever

Download: The Narrator - "Surfjew"
Download: The Narrator - "Pregnant Boys"
Download: The Narrator - "The Party's Over"
Download: The Narrator - "We Call Police"
Download: The Narrator - "The Cavaliers"
Download: The Narrator - "Try Not To Breathe"


Despite all of the dreams one may have about living the good rock n' roll life, the reality for most bands is one of constant struggle. Few bands know this better than Chicago-based The Narrator, a group with musical similarities to Pavement and Archers of Loaf. Their third full-length, All That To The Wall, was filled with sly, slacker-filled self-deprecation and treble-heavy, guitar-driven hooks, but there were many lyrics that addressed the pains and bores of working at a lackluster job, finding out your ex-girlfriend is getting married, and enough ennui to fuel an entire city's worth of quarter-life crises. Furthermore, the time before recording of that record was a period rife with conflict--the band lost its drummer and almost broke up.

So it comes as no surprise--though it still is unfortunate news all the same--that a Time Out Chicago post has revealed that the band is breaking up. Nothing has been issued by way of a band statement, but the quartet did announce via their MySpace page that they've got two final shows coming: one on May 3rd at the Empty Bottle and the other on May 10th at the Red Door in New York.

It would seem that their lyrics about "quitting while we're behind" are all too prophetic. That said, the band posted one last track called "So The End", an outtake from Wall, and its a song that shows the band going out on top musical form. The song is about Sam Axelrod recalling a dream where he's friend with Bob Dylan (apropos of the fact that The Narrator covered a Dylan song on their last record) and how the former Robert Zimmerman asks Axelrod about his group. And boy, does Axelrod tell him. "We're broke/and we're spent/and it's starting to take its toll" goes one lyric. "I've figured it out/and I can't live like this" goes another. Finally, after starting off as a plaintive, acoustic-folk number, "So The End" triumphantly crescendos into a waltz, with all the band singing along to the refrain of "I can't live on this witch's salary". It's a bittersweet moment because of the fact that the track is such a great sing-along, and the band's profile seemed to be rising--but it seems like acclaim from the likes of Stereogum and Rolling Stone will only take you so far. Still, it's a track that the band should be proud of.

Stream "So The End" at the band's MySpace Page

Listen to tracks from all of the Narrator's catalog--all MP3s via Flameshovel--along with the group's cover of R.E.M's "Try Not To Breathe", at the top of the post.

Buy Narrator records here.

The Narrator on MySpace

(Jonathan Graef)

Pitchfork Music Festival: Lunchbreak Concert Series

In order to gear up for the mammoth, completely sold-out, Pitchfork Music Festival, the website is collaborating with the Chicago Cultural Center to bring you, citizens of Chicago, the Lunchbreak Concert Series. The series consists a week long series of shows by local bands, each one sponsored by a local music venue. All of the performances will take place at Chicago Cultural Center's Randolph Cafe, which is located at 77 East Randolph Street in Chicago.

Today's show was presented by Martyrs and featured Red Chamber.

Download: Red Chamber - "Slow Soul"
Download: Red Chamber - "Tabu"

Below is a list of the remaining concerts in the series and a few mp3s of each band participating:

Tuesday: Baby Teeth

Download: Baby Teeth - "Snake Eyes" (Daytrotter Session)
Download: Baby Teeth - "The Rules" (Daytrotter Session)

Wednesday: The Narrator

Download: The Narrator - "SurfJew"
Download: The Narrator - "Panic at Puppy Beach"

Thursday: Watchers

Download: Watchers - "Chess Champion "
Download: Watchers - "Mercenary Birds"

Friday: May Or May Not

Download: May Or May Not - "Drown In The Sun"
Download: May Or May Not - "Holiday"

(Jonathan Graef)

Live Review: The Narrator, Double Door, 5/27/07

When you’re attending a show by a band that writes as many wiseass anthems as The Narrator does, twenty-something hipsters ironically wearing trucker hats and second-hand t-shirts is as inevitable as mortality and annual payments to the government. One shirt, in particular, stuck out to me. It said the following: “Genius by birth, lazy by choice.”

All That To The Wall, the new album from up-and-coming band The Narrator, is the sound of that t-shirt slogan as a rally cry. Whether that’s intentional or not is one thing. But what is truly certain is that, both live and on record, The Narrator articulate the woes and tribulations of people who are others see as working beneath their potential, but who see themselves as not quite ready to sell their ideals out to the adult world yet.

The Narrator’s set for Flameshovel’s Memorial Day showcase at the Double Door emphasized the more upbeat cuts from Wall and, as a result, the band effectively contrasted the slacker malaise of their lyrics with an energetic, crowd-pleasing performance. Album highlights such as “Surfjew” and “Son of the Son of the Kiss of Death” were upbeat and catchy, with the latter’s twin-guitar attack recalling fellow Chicago band Chin Up Chin Up’s work on This Harness Can’t Ride Anything.

The band’s lighting helped emphasized the tension between the band’s lackadaisical sarcasm and its tight, rhythmical attack, as the stage was bathed in strong reds and laid-back blues. Other times, the music itself was provided served as the juxtaposition for the band’s ethos, as songs that started out slow, ambient and feedback-laden would suddenly switch to double-time and come ragingly back to life. It’s as if the band had just woken up from an afternoon nap and then proceeded to accomplish a day’s worth of tasks in ten minutes.

That quality, along with the fact that the band’s music can be highly energetic and charming (in spite of whatever doubts and reservations about mid-20s life that are expressed), is what The Narrator has in common with legendary groups like Pavement (to whom they are strongly indebted) and Dinosaur Jr. (to whom they bear zero sonic resemblance). Most of the band’s likeability, though, comes from their stage patter, as singers Sam Axelrod and Jesse Woghin joked about winning a Grammy, told the audience in mock-reassurance that there was no pressure to smoke that night, and introduced their cover of Bob Dylan’s “All The Tired Horses” as U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

It was that set closing number which showed the band’s capacity for being both sincere and sarcastic simultaneously. The Narrator invited audience members to come up on stage to sing along with them, and then dropped down one of those sparkling disco balls you saw at your junior prom. The moment may have meant to been ironic, but ended up as a great sing-a-long for the audience and a sweet way to have ended the set. If it’s true that by scratching a cynic, you’ll actually find a disappointed idealist, then The Narrator’s set last Sunday at the Double Door was like slacker aloe for the fresh wounds of adulthood.

Following The Narrator were fellow Flamshovel labelmates Bound Stems and Russian Circles. With regard to the art-pop (think Deerhoof or The Fiery Furnaces) of the Bound Stems, I can’t help but think of their music as simultaneously hearing two songs separated by a common melody. The band’s creative hodgepodge included such diverse elements as quirky boy-girl harmonies; folksy acoustic-guitar; classic pop chord progressions; ska-influenced bass lines; and finally, polyrhythmic drums. Here’s a group with a definite case of musical ADD. Luckily, the songs were always melodious, even a bit melancholy at times, but sweet merciful crap, they were hard to follow. The band’s Franken-pop was the sound of permanent transition. I stopped keeping track of the stylistic changes after a while, but I also vowed to spend more time with the band’s work.

Russian Circles then closed the evening with their brand of instrumental post-metal. The band’s guitar riffs crunched like a captain, and the snare hits of the drums blasted out like a gunshot. Songs started out quietly, with an eerie, cryptic guitar line straight out of Metallica’s Cliff Burton-era catalog segueing into a jabbing, riffy distorted guitar. The twin guitar-play was masterful, and, at its best, the music of Russian Circles approached cinematic proportions. The Russian Circles proved themselves to be the true masters of the Metalocalypse.

This article has been cross-published at Yerp Magazine.

(Jonathan Graef)

New Video from The Narrator

Download: The Narrator - "Surfjew"
Download: The Narrator - "Start Parking"

Lots of news lately from Chicago's The Narrator, all of it quite good. First, the band released a video for the song "Breaking The Turtle," from their newly released album, All That To The Wall. That one you can find posted above. Second, the band staged a triumphant show this past Sunday (5/27/07) opening for fellow Flameshovel labelmates Bound Stems and Russian Circles at Chicago's the Double Door. The show was free, and, yes, I attended, and a good time was had by all. Expect a review of the concert sometime in the next couple of days. Thirdly, the band was featured as Spin's Band of The Day this past Friday (5/25/07). And last, but certainly not least, the band is about to launch a nationwide tour in support of All That To The Wall. Dates are posted below:

05.31.07 @ The Waiting Room | Omaha, NE
w/ Cursive, Malpais
06.01.07 @ Larimer Lounge | Denver, CO
06.02.07 @ Kilby Court | Salt Lake City, UT
06.04.07 @ Comet Tavern | Seattle, WA
w/ The End of the World
06.05.07 @ Towne Lounge | Portland, OR
w/ The End of the World
06.06.07 @ Press Club | Sacramento, CA
w/ The End of the World
06.07.07 @ Hotel Utah Saloon | San Francisco, CA
w/ The End of the World, Dame Satan, Cervantes
06.09.07 @ Che Cafe | La Jolla, CA
w/ The End of the World, Lanterns, Cancer Leo
06.11.07 @ Knitting Factory | Hollywood, CA
w/ The End of the World
06.12.07 @ Modified | Phoenix, AZ
06.14.07 @ Emo's | Austin, TX
w/ Ume, Bring Back the Guns
06.16.07 @ Rudyard's | Houston, TX
06.17.07 @ Fletch & Gabe's House | 440 E. State | Baton Rouge, LA
06.19.07 @ Lucky's Pub | Wilmington, NC
w/ The Ataris
06.20.07 @ Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar | Charlottesville, VA
w/ Cataract Camp
06.21.07 @ Maxwell's | Hoboken, NJ
w/ House and Parish
06.23.07 @ Cake Shop | New York, NY
w/ The Subjects
06.24.07 @ T. T. the Bear's | Cambridge, MA
06.25.07 @ Black Cat | Washington, DC
w/ Cataract Camp, The Ear The Eye The Arm
06.26.07 @ Bug Jar | Rochester, NY
06.28.07 @ Carabar | Columbus, OH
w/ Get Him Eat Him
06.30.07 @ Beat Kitchen | Chicago, IL
w/ Get Him Eat Him (18+)
08.01.07 @ Beachland Ballroom | Cleveland, OH
w/ Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Jai-Alai Savant

Boo-urns to the fact that they're not playing in Minneapolis, but I am sure they can be persuaded by massive demand for them. Get to it, Minneapolis folk!

(Jonathan Graef)

Chicago F'in Rocks: Flameshovel Records

Download: The Narrator- "All the Tired Horses"
Download: The Narrator- "Breaking the Turtle"

May is going to be quite the month for Chicago's Flameshovel Records. First off, the Windy City label releases a very strong album from The Narrator today, 5/15/07 (which I have reviewed here, on this very blog). The Narrator record will very likely be on my local best-of at the end of the year. By clicking the link in the previous sentence, you can read my more in-depth thoughts on All That To The Wall. Also, The Narrator was profiled in the last issue of Chicago's alternative newspaper, The Reader. Read that article here.

MySpace Page




Download: The Race - "Feathers" (from Ice Station)
Download: The Race - "Safe and Sound" (from If You Can)

Also released on Flameshovel today is the latest record from Chicago's The Race. The album is titled Ice Station. As you may have guessed already, I have written about The Race on this blog before, and you can click on the link to read my thoughts about this excellent band. The Narrator's success may threaten to overshadow The Race. If that is the case (which I obviously think it shouldn't be, as they are both praiseworthy bands deserving of success), then expect Ice Station to become one of the year's most underrated records. The Race plays a record release party at Chicago venue The Hideout on June 2nd, 2007. Read more about the band here.

MySpace page



Download: Bound Stems - "Andover"
Download: Bound Stems - "Western Biographic"

Last, but not least, are the Bound Stems, who released their most recent record, Appreciation Night, on Flameshovel in 2006. Click the two links above to get a sample of what the band is about (fans of Modest Mouse may find a kindred spirit in this band). The stems are playing a FREE show at Chicago's Double Door on May 27th, 2007, at 8 p.m. with...(drum roll)...you guessed it, The Narrator and The Race. Good times, indeed. If you don't have anything going on that night, you should definitely go, as you'll be seeing many of Chicago's finest bands for a price that's almost too good to be true. Get a better background on the Bound Stems here.

MySpace page

You can stream or, better yet, order all three albums from the Flameshovel website

(Jonathan Graef)

The Narrator - All That to the Wall

The Narrator
All That To The Wall (Flameshovel, 2007)
Grade: A-

Download: The Narrator - "August 32nd"
Download: The Narrator - "SurfJew"
Download: The Narrator - "Panic at Puppy Beach"

This record scares me. No, not because that The Narrator are a death-metal band (they're obviously not). To be totally truthful, The Narrator owe their sound more than just a little bit to Pavement's charmingly slack ways. Rather, it's the way that The Narrator's latest record (due out this Tuesday on Flameshovel Records) is a frighteningly accurate document of the internal mix of confusion, uncertainty and stagnation known as your mid-20s. I believe Jeff Buckley referred to this period of your life as when you're "too young to hold on, but too old to just break free and run."

You have a stable job and a steady relationship, but you aren't quite ready to settle down and give up your freewheeling college ways just yet. Adulthood is right around the corner, but you're still having a good stroll down the sidewalk of your somewhat reckless youth. You don’t quite feel tied down to anything just yet, but you still have the sense that you need to settle into a routine that will eventually become the rest of your life, It’s a confusing time. By expertly capturing this specific kind of malaise, All That To The Wall serves as the kind of record that may not necessairly change lives, but will certainly make living through them much, much easier, due to its slacker empathy.

Like Oxford Collapse, The Narrator are best thought of as being a kind of indie-rock comfort food. The songs are energetic and passionate to the point where you forget that this is a band who wears its influences almost too proudly on their sleeves. However, the lyrics are sly, self-deprecating and, most importantly of all, have the ring of truth to them.

What makes the songs on All That To The Wall really interesting is that they are simultaneously driven and laid-back. This is due to the fact that while the guitars are fuzzy, jangly and explosive, but singer Sam Axelrod has a voice that serves as the intersection between Stephen Malkmus and Gordan Gano.

As you can imagine, Axelrod has a bit of a sarcastic streak, and it serves him well on on songs like "Surf's Up" where the off-kilter hooks serve to buoy sly lyrics like "Yeah, I Miss The City/I Miss Every City," as the rhythm section thrashes around like a deliriously happy toddler.

Other lyrical highlights include "My brain's working overtime/but my body's on salary" and "with happiness comes responsibility/I think I'll quite while I'm behind." The music, with distorted electronic drums and pentatonic guitar riffs reminiscent of bands like Modest Mouse, Pavement and Chin Up Chin Up, is an upbeat force to be reckoned with, and always remains catchy and clever. There's some musical stretching as well, with banjo and organ enhancing on "All The Tired Horses."

Listening to The Narrator is like commiserating with a friend about the uncertainties of your life at that moment. You compare notes, you laugh, and you relate. But unlike your real friends, these friends can rock out and you can dance to their thoughts. As you select a soundtrack for your mid-20s malaise, you should put on Narrator's All That To The Wall

(Jonathan Graef)