Hold on tight to latest Schooner LP
By: Bryan Reed, Diversions Editor
Issue date: 8/24/07 Section: Diversions
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But with its second full-length, Hold On Too Tight, Schooner fights to push the boundaries of the label.
Sure, there's "Carrboro," which claims the band's hometown with its very title.
But it's a rare moment when Schooner directly recalls Superchunk or Archers of Loaf in a way that would justify pigeonholing.
Even when energy pours out of the band in the form of "I Would Tell You That I'm Stuck," which rolls along a turbulent beat pushing along frontman Reid Johnson's story of a turbulent relationship, Schooner pushes the boundaries of "Chapel Hill indie rock."
For the most part, Schooner's music is built on a foundation of oozing pop hooks, shoegazing reverb and Johnson's sleepily hypnotic vocal style, which is akin to Stephen Malkmus' slacker drawl.
Even if upbeat, even borderline aggressive cuts such as "I Would Tell You That I'm Stuck" are a change of pace for the band, most of Hold On Too Tight, focuses around the pains and discomforts of dying relationships, and lets the musical dynamic ebb and flow in reflection of individual songs' emotional musing.
Perhaps most noteworthy however, for a "Chapel Hill indie rock" band, is that on Hold On Too Tight, Schooner is as indebted to '60s R&B and teen idol pop as it is to My Bloody Valentine or Pavement.
"Pray for You to Die" marries a prom night doo-wop slow dance with a spurned lover's curse hidden in the reverb-heavy guitars and saccharine oohs and aahs of the deceptively sweet song.
Vocal harmonies, and bittersweet melodies owing directly to the vintage sounds of acts such as Smokey Robinson or Jan & Dean mesh with the shaggy-haired indie inclinations the band shows with its impressionistic lyrics, trudging fuzz-box guitars and shoegaze influences.
The result is a melodic, hazy sort of slack-pop, written with the type of melodic hook that is instantly memorable, and lyrics with just enough detail to allow personal, emotional relevance to turn the songs into something more than melodies.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
SEE THE SHOW
Time: TBA, Saturday
Location: Cat's Cradle. 300 E. Main St., Carrboro.
Info: www.catscradle.com
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