As much as Chairlift want to paint themselves as meek nocturnals with their third LP, stomach check Moth, do not be fooled for a second.
Considering the New York duo’s past, it’s fair to see some correlation with a moth’s love of night lights and attic-dwelling clothes from a bygone era. Although the band’s break came nearly a decade ago when their charmingly twee “Bruises” soundtracked an iPod Nano ad (which, if you’re looking to feel a bit old, is worth a watch), their high water mark (to date) came with 2012’s brooding Something.
Beyond showcasing a total transformation in production and songwriting, Something felt somewhere between a quiet divorce from their more precious tendencies and a love letter to the early ‘80s wave of eclectic pop that begat Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. The standout track, however, was the band’s most unabashedly pop friendly song, “I Belong In Your Arms”. Revealing a band that found ease in crafting massive choruses around singer Caroline Polachek’s marquee vocals, “Arms” fell somewhere between the intimacy of a mixtape’s crucial last song and the promise of a song fit for a coming-of-age movie soundtrack.
“Arms” proved to be an important point in Chairlift history going into the band’s tour kickoff on Wednesday, which largely acted as the introduction to the NYC-inspired Moth. Featuring eight of the unreleased LP’s ten songs, Chairlift’s setlist spared very little room for doling out old favorites to some crowd trepidation. After sneaking Something opener “Sidewalk Safari” in though, singer Caroline Polachek took command with airtight, but seemingly effortless dancing on “Polymorphing”, a strutting charmer that utilizes Polachek’s lilting falsetto to its full pop potential.
Bassist/drummer Patrick Wimberly and the band, rounded out by multi-instrumentalist Starchild and saxophonist Danny Meyer, found similar fulfillment in Moth’s dancier sections. Playing their eclecticism to its extremes, “Show U Off”, a nu-disco ode to PDA, shifted into the fuzz-poppy anxieties of early single “Romeo” without so much as a breather from the pockets of followers dancing along. “I don’t even see a single phone out,” Polachek remarked mid-set. “That’s just fucking incredible!”
The phonelessness felt obvious for the same reason why a band like Chairlift shouldn’t call themselves humble moths anymore: a new, undeniable confidence has emerged from the four year cocoon they’ve kept themselves in before Wednesday night. It was evident early on in slacker pop openers Babydriver’s undying praise for Wimberly (who produced both their LPs) despite the two bands’ nonexistent overlap in sound. It shined with Polachek’s increasingly stadium-ready vocals, which have transferred from the school of Regina Spektor’s warbles to near-Mariah Carey levels of command. And, with a goofy “Bruises” singalong for old times’ sake and unrestrained jamming throughout set closer “Ch-Ching”, Chairlift’s confidence will sustain with enough charm to light up a few blocks of any city they flutter through.
For photos from the show, check out our gallery below.
