The Submarines preview

The Submarines
Schubas, Chicago
Thursday, May 22, 2008

Put down that dating manual. Erase the phrase “he’s just not that into you” from your vocabulary. Bruised hearts, shattered egos, and cynical left-brainers only need an introduction to husband-and-wife team Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti (aka The Submarines) to throw down the shackles of unrequited love.

On Honeysuckle Weeks (Nettwerk), the duo’s sophomore effort, shimmering, summer-ready lullabies put forth a tsunami’s worth of good vibes ready to wash over anyone sitting in a beer garden telekinetically willing someone to come over for a chat.

Incorporating swirling electronic blips with an undercurrent of strings (provided by The Section Quartet), Hazard serenely chirps “Love finds you even when you’ve given it up/everybody deserves to be adored/why would you settle for less when the world gives you more?” in “Submarine Symphonika,” while jubilantly proclaiming “I cried love and the skies opened up” to a baroque organ on “The Thorny Thicket.”

Fit for a modern-day Casablanca, “1940” finds Hazard stripping off her fairy wings and belting it out tit for tat with a twinkling xylophone. “Swimming Pool” borders on kitsch, but the deliciously punchy chorus, “When you kiss me in ways I’ve forgotten/love is a swimming pool with no bottom,” makes up for the kooky finger snaps.

The Los Angeles-by-way-of-Boston couple documented their bitter breakup and reconciliation on their debut, Declare A New State!. Fortunately, the honeymoon isn’t over.

Headlights headline; Common Loon open.

— Janine Schaults

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly