In July we introduced Bad Blood by The Wiitala Brothers, an emerging lo-fi outfit from Chicago. “Lo-fi” is a pretty good description of their promotional efforts as well: we linked to their Myspace page, their Pure Volume page , and their Second Wave Music page, none of which editorialize very much. When the band submitted us a copy of their LP for a full tMiM review, the press kit and conversation that followed went down a similar path.
To distill their off-camera message into a single sentence is easy: we let the music do the talking.
We certainly appreciate the sentiment. Taylor Swift’s microphone is safe around these guys, and that’s a good thing. Yet it would be an impressive task indeed for a music review to let the music do all the talking.
Instead, let’s begin with a list of what their music does not. It does not come with a free molotov cocktail with every purchase. It does not require its own technical support manual. It does not necessitate putting together eleven musicians to perform live. Quite the contrary: the name of the band is literal (Christopher and Trevor are twin brothers). The name of the the LP just might be literal, too. Just take a look at the album cover, or the lyrics sheet:
I’m tired of living
I don’t have the strength to live
I’m tired of holding on
By a single thread
Empty words are all I have
So while Bad Blood won’t incite civil disobedience or answer the question of mind-body dualism, it just might break your heart. And isn’t that why we listen to music in the first place?
As for the present reviewer, his favorite track is “Hold Tight,” quoted above, and we probably have the video to thank for that. The clip, embedded below, shows just how deeply the brothers have pared it all down: Christopher on vocals. Guitar. Tambourine. Trevor on drums. Sparse, aching vocals. Minimal instrumentation. In this setting, the simple drum lick seems relentless. Among all this, the lyrics and the phrasing are actually quite chilling:
One first thing you notice about Hey Rosetta! are Tim Baker’s everyman vocals. The impression is probably wrong, but the perception is difficult to push aside: Baker sounds as if he discovered one morning he could really, really sing, and then went straight to the studio, formed a band, and started recording. Christopher Wiitala’s vocals are familiar in quite the same way: accessible, credible, not for sale. “Face the Wind” reveals an anxious and curious narrator; the title track, a genuinely sad one. And although they are far too young to remember Motown — they’re barely old enough to remember President Reagan, for that matter — “Nothing Left To Say” is peppered with old soul, subtle and restrained.
That is probably the best word to use to describe The Wiitala Brothers: restrained. They are experienced and talented musicians, no question, and Christopher’s angst becomes our angst, his sadness becomes ours. But they don’t overseason the recipe, they season just the right amount. Bad Blood is another example of how the windy city doesn’t just produce a lot of hot air.
* * *
Do you remember your best moment musically? If you were to ask me the same question, I could tell you without a moment’s hesitation. One night after a sunset hike in Africa, my then-fiancée and I came upon a campfire and a local family. The little girl was dancing, the father was drumming, and the mother was playing some kind of homemade stringed instrument. My old lady and I were exhausted by every measure: physically, mentally, psychologically. We were ten time zones away from home and roasting in our own skin in late December. Our day packs weighed as much as any of these players, so we put the packs down for a time and just listened. Watched. After taking it in for a beat too long we left some local currency in the tip jar, and it no doubt fed the three of them for a day. I hated to leave.
After hearing this story you would never think of asking me the genre of music, or asking me to list some of their musical influences or comparisons. Minimalist? Absolutely. Indie? Sure. Alternative. Certainly. Rock? Not really. Experimental? That all depends. Lo-fi? Most certainly. But you would never ask to begin with. You would just listen, and let the music do the talking.
