Brightest Young Things

I called it, many years ago. I'm usually way behind the curve on new developments of things, but in the mid-00s I downloaded Dr. Dog's Easybeat for free off their website and loved it so hard that I instantly knew: Philadelphia was the new world capital of 1960s psych-pop, burning Atlanta to the ground. Before that point I didn't think it was possible for anyone other than a horrible jam band to list Frank Zappa as an influence, but the new style of weird and whimsical acid-folky-whatever that's been churning out of the place for the past 5 years somehow manages to pull it off over and over again without sounding derivative or cutesy. From the Extraordiares to Drink Up Buttercup to the latest joyful surprise in my in-box, the Armchairs, it seems the 2-tenor harmonies, cleverly brutal low-fi production, and dadaist Owl and Pussycat lyrics you can frug to will never get tiresome to me or to the seemingly endless population of British Invasion-obsessed inhabitants in the City of Brotherly Love.

The Armchairs are especially good at the quirkier brand of Philadelica (I'd call it Psychedelphia but there's a chubby jam band called that so let's not cross the streams), containing more literary references and Floyd timechanges than twistable riffs, but they still know how to pop out a shuffle-dance inducing beat when they need to. Also they have some pretty sweet moves of their own...

Since they're opening for Bellman Barker at the Velvety Lounge tonight we asked them to send us some songs and talk about them while we eat cereal in our PJs. At least that's what I'm doing while listening to them. If you have any PJs put them on now.

These mp3s are demos recorded from 2006 - 2008.  Some of them will appear in new form on our debut full length Science & Advice, due out August of 2010, some perhaps never again.

1. Nebraska - this song was written mostly with refrigerator magnets and whiskey in a late night drunken whirlwind in the south loop of Chicago in the winter of 2006.  This demo was recorded at the Merriam Theater in 2008 and delves heavily into themes of murder, escape, and soft drinks.

2. An Encouraging Shout to Hunting Hounds - often times people tend to live their lives in dull, monotonous cycles, heads drooped and eyes pointed downward.  Wake up for work, go to work, eat the sludge, drive home, kiss the wife, eat the sludge, fall asleep - repeat.

3. Solar Puff - while listening to this song, picture yourself floating towards the moon in a hot air balloon.

4. Bear Battles - another demo from the Molholt/Chadwick duo days.  Written only a few months after moving into Fishtown, in a particularly deranged mood.  This song reappears on our debut full length Science & Advice, due for release in August 2010.

5. Chalk - our band spends a great deal of time stowed away inside our dusty, mold filled Philadelphia basement, watching crystals grow in beer bottles & reciting verse from 1950s UFO propaganda.  It was just one of those days.

6. Lost in a Dream - One of the songs that convinced us that we needed to move to the same city and form a band.  Recorded by Chadwick in Humboldt Park sometime in 2007.

Photo 1 by Michael Persico

Photo 2 by Kate Bracaglia

Photo 3 by Héloïse Colloc'h

Put your pants on and go see them tonight at Velvet Lounge.