Personnel: Karen Codd (cello); Sasha Bell (flute).
The Brooklyn based trio Chairlift owe a great deal of their fame to "Bruises," a quirky, synth-heavy single, prominently placed in an iPod ad. The band's debut full-length, DOES YOU INSPIRE YOU, displays a musical range beyond the danceable electro-pop featured in that break-out track. The laid-back, downtempo soundscapes that permeate the album are carried along by Caroline Polachek's haunting, ethereal vocals. And the kitschy synth instrumentation lends the melodies a near otherworldy quality reminiscent of New Age or low budget sci-fi film music. While some have criticized DOES YOU INSPIRE YOU as an uneven effort, the album's bright spots more than make up for any awkward fumbles, making it one of the more impressive debuts in recent memory.
Despite sharing stages with the more visible members of New York's experimental indie scene -- including MGMT, Yeasayer, and Grizzly Bear -- Chairlift's own experiments didn't yield similar notice until late 2008, when "Bruises" found its way onto TV via a commercial for Apple's new iPod Nano. Whimsically atmospheric and full of gauzy synth, the song proved to be a fitting appetizer for Chairlift's debut album, which marries moody music with an arty, avant-garde bent. Does You Inspire You isn't meant to be digested in one sitting -- even the album's title requires a double take -- and Chairlift structure these songs accordingly, adding layers of futuristic production and bookishly offbeat lyrics to the mix. "I was trained in diversity in the garden of puberty where they Heimlich maneuvered me and they showed me how to make a baby," Caroline Polachek sings during "Planet Health," her voice echoing atop an '80s-styled arrangement of thumping bass and fantasy-movie keyboards. She's a chameleon throughout the record, singing in a seductive coo one minute and a strident, faux bravado the next, all the while adding a human element to Chairlift's blend of gossamer pop and Reagan-era retro kitsch. This being their debut record, the young musicians sometimes explore a bit too avidly, often emerging with jewels like "Territory" -- a piece of gothic, interstellar synth-pop that sounds like Björk phoning home from the space station -- and other times finding nothing but the misplaced country shuffle of "Don't Give a Damn." The latter song still sports a gorgeous conclusion with its cathedral harmonies and slide guitar, however, and the rest of Does You Inspire You follows suit, finding beauty and intrigue in the most unexpected of places. ~ Andrew Leahey minimize