Listen: People Will Blink
If I told you great music comes out of Chicago, would you believe me? It’s not a hard fact to swallow, given the city’s successful track record (Smashing Pumpkins, Kanye West, and Wilco to name a few). Yet every month something else comes a brewing. Now, while they’re not particularly new to the area, People Will Blink are starting to stir up some excitement for the independent music scene here in Chicago.
People Will Blink has an interesting sound. It’s a little bit of Modest Mouse (post-The Moon and Antarctica), a blend of The Police (Regatta de Blanc-era), and some spillage of the brilliant, but disrupted Dismemberment Plan (think A People’s History of the Dismemberment Plan). Let’s not forget their own original blend, but the formula above should give you a good idea.
Then again, you could check it all out yourself.
This is a band with a sense of humor. That much is apparent by just happening upon their MySpace site, which is littered with giddy anecdotes (their slogan: “If you don’t like it, we win”) and off the wall drawings of themselves. And when they’re not playing songs off their eccentric yet moody debut, Explodeo!, the quartet throws in random, yet fan friendly covers.
People Will Blink released Explodeo! at the end of 2007. Judging from the eight tracks featured, one could assume this is a crew that’s unsure of what it wants to be. There’s funk, there’s remedial jazz medleys, some distorted guitar static work that seems to channel early at.the.drive-in, and then there’s hints of hip-hop. The thing is: it works. That humor I mentioned before really ties it all together and you can hear that in the music, especially when some songs are called, “One of the Perks Of Being A Well-Known, Albeit Ineffective Superhero” or “Balthazar! Hey, Balthazar!.”
Eat that, Pete Wentz.
People Will Blink is a strictly independent band; however, they are signed under the small Chicago label Reformer Records. Though they don’t have any shows coming up (Chicago blizzards might have something to do with it), the debut is out and readily available online. One can say the future is looking good for them. I will.
Watch them grow, watch them grow.
Check out:
“(8-Bar Wake) Before An Irish Funeral”
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
Explodeo! indeed. I liked it so much I bought copies for a bunch of friends who are always looking for the sharpest edge of new musical experience. What can I say — I owed them some favors and this was it. Valentine’s day is coming up — do an Explodeo with someone you love.
Huh?
Brilliant dr. SmartySmart !