Album: Lyme Tymes EP
Release Date: 17/7/2012
A resoundingly grandiose and pretty debut EP from Chicago one man project
The ability to single- handedly conjure up the sound of a
full band is a remarkable and not often acknowledged feat. Self- recording
artists generally prefer to sink into their own shells and create their own idiosyncratic
dimensions in which only they really function and only they will ever really
understand (Ariel Pink, R. Stevie Moore and such ilk). That obviously isn’t the
intention of Chicago based musician Chris Adams however. From the sounds of his
debut EP “Lyme Times”, he’s shooting for a resounding, universal sound.
Pleasingly, he gets most of the way there.
All the songs on “Lyme Times” are half way to being fully-
fledged bangers. Coming across like a more refined Titus Andronicus with
inflections of My Bloody Valentine and Grandaddy, many moments here swoop and
soar with diligent grandiosity. This is exemplified most brilliantly by the
opener “Yankee”, which has a gorgeous guitar line and a huge whooshing synth
hook, as well as the beef of a full band behind it. “Heart” widens the influential
spectrum with its glacial ‘80s synths, whilst “Statue” has what sounds like
horns resounding in the background during the chorus over bubbling Nintendo- esque electronics.
With every track sounding proportionally large, one wonders
what Adams might achieve if he did ever endorse in a full live band. Musically
there’s no correlation between “Lyme Times” and the dusty, lo- fi crackle of
the works of the aforementioned self- recording luminaries. But he’s worked
some wonders here on his own, and thus either way an intriguing and most likely
tuneful future awaits.
Download: 1) Yankee, 2) Snow Creek
8/10
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