The Explorers Club preview

The Explorers Club
Empty Bottle, Chicago
Friday, June 13, 2008

We compare new bands to their forebearers because it helps get everyone on one page; sometimes there’s no other way to describe them. Interpol sound like Joy Division, Godsmack like Alice In Chains. John Mellencamp was “Baby Boss.” But The Explorers Club really sound like The Beach Boys. It’s uncanny.

And not just in spirit, as Elephant 6 bands Apples In Stereo and Olivia Tremor Control did when attuning their backyard orchestras to Brian Wilson’s post-Pet Sounds permutations. The EC’s debut, Freedom Wind (Dead Oceans), absolutely nails that period just before “Good Vibrations” completely redefined what you could do with rock ‘n’ roll — obsessed with beautiful girls (more the record-store variety than beach bunnies) and four-part harmonies. There’s an exasperation on Freedom, one very concerned with innocence lost as melancholic harmonies conflict with lyrics like “If you go now/I won’t shed a tear/Because baby somehow/our love will reappear.”

It can be difficult to abide the pageantry, knowing there are no genuine surprises in store. Nevertheless, it’s impossible to ignore the majesty of “Do You Love Me?”‘s chorus or the timeless invocation of the “Be My Baby” beat on opener “Forever.” As a bonus, The Explorers Club toss a cookie by way of the closing title track, which completely drops the Beach Boys guise for something more Let It Be. But not so precisely.

Lightspeed Champion headline.

— Steve Forstneger

Click here to download “Do You Love Me?”

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly