ARTIST: The Buttless Chaps
TITLE: Cartography
LABEL:
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 205kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 45m total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-00-00
RIP DATE: 2008-11-16
Track List
----------
1. Cartography 6:04
2. The Opera 4:23
3. Water By The Wayside 4:15
4. When It's Cold Outside 4:30
5. Broken Transit, Broken Soil 4:35
6. Are We Forgiven Now 5:19
7. Coal Grey Sky 4:07
8. Total Amounts Left Are Not 4:35
Enough
9. Complications May Arise 3:29
10. For The Night It Buries You 4:35
Release Notes:
The -WEB- version of this was released a few weeks ago. Here's the CD rip, scan
included.
---
Well it seems a band that consistently flies under the radar û maybe due to
their name, but IÆve gone on about that too many times already û is even flying
under the over saturated, blogger/PR radar. Vancouver music stalwarts, The
Buttless Chaps, are back with a new record.
Snuck up on you didnÆt it?
Well, it seems that Dave Gowans and crew are fixing to release Cartography on
October 14th and I didnÆt hear a peep about it until it arrived in my mailbox
(and I tend to log into Mint Records at least once a week for updates).
Cartography, like you might expect, involves a journey; not a journey for the
band but for the listener and one that goes from coast to coast of our great
country. The Chaps have always been able to combine folk with icy cold synths
with well thought out orchestral pop that represent the spacious beauty of our
country, but on Cartography they seem to be ready to speak to a larger, city
dwelling audience.
Gowans ability to pen a sci-fi ballads and rural anthems (and tracks like Coal
Grey Sky will satisfy any classic Chaps fan), but with beautiful harmonies,
static electro currents and terrific percussion the Chaps are able to replicate
lonely nights in dark cities (the energy that crackles throughout the desolate
title track is incredible).
As the energy on The Opera builds and builds and Gowans trademark baritone
balances the dancing, intricate textures, you canÆt help but think of Matt
Beringer and how his vocals integrate with the expert musicians of The National.
But instead of coming off like another NYC band trying to replicate those songs,
The Chaps quickly push the envelope in a new direction when they jump into
robotic voice box distorted vocals and add orchestral horns to the song. No, you
can never accuse the band of trying to sound like anyone else. After 10 years,
they are comfortable in their own musical skin.
YouÆd think a track like When ItÆs Cold Outside would be spare and cold, but the
track is full of warmth. IdaÆs vocals compliment Dave nicely and Dan GaucherÆs
drum work adds pinks and oranges to the effort like morningÆs first light. Are
We Forgiven Now? starts out as another melodic acoustic /electric mix, but the
band spikes the energy in an interesting classic rock/early Radiohead hybrid.
Complications May Arise experiments with an almost surf guitar riff, and that
diversity is what I love about Cartography û and all of the Chaps recordings to
be honest. You are left to play a constant guessing game.
When the soothing folk tones of Water By The Wayside start, you can't help but
wonder where the band will take the song. Slowly the horns come in and the
clacking percussion starts dancing. Then they toss in IdaÆs perfect backing
vocals and a burst of energy from the drums before giving way to piano textures
and warbled synth effects that sound terrific but never take away from the
beautiful melody or crowd the mix. Every element is exposed at the right time
(like the Ravi Shankar sitar psychedelics that show up out of nowhere on the
title track), and the listener is able to digest every note thanks to the band's
incredible patience and restraint.
IÆve long since realized that The Buttless Chaps are destined to be an under-
appreciated entity; a band that could be huge if ever given the chance, but IÆm
also quite happy knowing that they can sneak up on me and deliver a record that
pushes boundaries and can still be completely enjoyable from start to finish.