Great Northern preview

Great Northern
Metro, Chicago
Friday, March 7, 2008

Los Angeles-based Great Northern doesn’t just write songs, the trio create soundscapes impossible to detach from. Vocalists Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte intertwine harmonies in hushed, almost muted tones that shoulder the heavy burden of emotion coursing through the five tracks on the group’s Sleepy Eepee (Eenie Meenie).

Recorded long before Great Northern’s debut full-length, Trading Twilight For Daylight (Eenie Meenie), the EP allows listeners a private peek into the inner workings of the band’s cinematic vision. Unfortunately the record offers only a quick glimpse, which leaves the listener craving much, much more of the atmospheric, starry-eyed pop.

Tinted with a menacing shadow, “Summertime” exists as if swimming through one of those clear-jelly candles. Dave Latter’s drums slush forth and the textured layers of vocals and guitar are distinctly unclear. Echoes of a Gregorian chant played at the wrong speed fill the background. “This Is A Problem” twinkles in its loneliness. Like Radiohead’s “No Surprises,” the song appeals to our most base melodic needs, thereby ensuring not only its lasting grip on the psyche, but on the heart as well. And even better, a broken heart at that. “Radio” deviates from the pack as the most traditional, peppy pop song of the bunch.

The Gutter Twins headline.

— Janine Schaults

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly