Sing and dance to Chairlift's new lyrically nonsensical album tracks

By Jay Becton     1/25/12 6:00pm

Something, Chairlift's first album since 2008, is a solid collection of joyful, danceable songs that look back to 1980s New Wave music without feeling too derivative or reductive. Each track on the album is polished and well-constructed, with singer and keyboardist Caroline Polachek's soaring vocals and melodies providing the perfect balance to bandmate Patrick Wimberly's grooving bass lines.

Much of the album sounds like a direct response to Chairlift's debut, the indulgent Does You Inspire You, which was full of infuriatingly unfinished thoughts. On that album, the band switched rapidly between genres, even dabbling in Cowboy Junkies-style lite country on a couple of tracks. While admirably risky, these experiments rarely paid off.

Luckily, Something is much more consistent than its predecessor in both style and quality, thanks to its singular vision and crisp production. Lead single "Amanaemonesia" makes absolutely no sense, with its almost-indecipherable title and lyrics like, "They paint the grasses green, repeating history." Its chorus, primarily a melismatic enunciation of that tricky title, is energetic and catchy, and Polachek's voice has you hooked. You're not sure what "Amanaemonesia" is exactly, but you'll sing along anyway.

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Tracks like "Met Before" and "Sidewalk Safari" are similarly successful, with unlikely concepts and choruses that deliver. "Met Before" is a stadium-sized jam that rolls along at a brisk pace and takes no prisoners. The song is practically destined to be played at a high volume on a car stereo, with the windows rolled down.

On "Sidewalk Safari," Polachek takes on the perspective of a vengeful, jilted lover with road rage, who promises to run down an ex-lover. (Perhaps this would-be victim is Aaron Pfenning, Polachek's ex-boyfriend and bandmate, who left both her and the band shortly before the recording of Something.) The tune, like most songs about vehicular manslaughter, risks being off-putting—nevertheless, you can't help but love its exuberance. Toward the end of "Sidewalk Safari," Polachek joyfully sings, "I'm gonna hunt you down!" against a chorus of hand claps. It's a ridiculous moment Chairlift has you clapping along, nodding your head to the beat in agreement with the song's murderous rage.

The intimate, slinky "Ghost Tonight" is just as seductive, with Polachek higher in the mix and her vocals closer to your ears. Her fingers snap along with Wimberly's beat, and she nails impressive, acrobatic maneuvers with her voice. The song sounds like a live recording of a pitch-perfect performance, which is impressive considering the high production value of the album, courtesy of veteran pop producer Dan Carey.

"I Belong in Your Arms" and "Take It Out on Me" are delightfully cheesy '80s throwbacks that wouldn't sound out of place on the soundtrack to an edgier John Hughes movie. Luckily, Polachek's earnest and endearing delivery of both tracks keeps them from sounding too referential, and "I Belong in Your Arms" only sort of sounds like a bad break-up song. On "Take It Out on Me," Wimberly adds a light, funky rhythm and blues beat under Polachek's vocals. Here Chairlift's genre-shifting experiments are subtler and more sophisticated than on Does You Inspire You; they are fully integrated into the album, rather than just tacked on as a last-ditch effort to sound interesting.

Unfortunately, not every experiment is as successful. Slower tracks "Cool as a Fire" and "Turning" both fail to engage. "Turning" functions mostly as a too-long interlude. "Cool as a Fire" is more engrossing, but it too, suffers from ?some bloat.

Both of those tracks betray Something's strong sense of coherence and purpose; the rest of this engrossing album flows gracefully from track to track. Something is a fun, pop reflection on the 1980s that remains firmly planted in Chairlift's aesthetics in 2012.

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