When Make Believe found out that drummer/keyboardist Nate Kinsella would be spending two months in an Oklahoma jail for an indecent exposure incident, they decided to spend his last few weeks of freedom recording a new album.
Kinsella then sketched the artwork for their latest album "Of Course" in his cell.
Their sophomore efforts have not evolved stylistically, but the Chicago-based indie band has certainly grown tighter under the strange and trying circumstances.
Make Believe seems to have taken the bouncy, countered-dissonance found on their last album, "Can't Tell Cop from Cab," and run with it.
Sam Zurick's rapid guitar hammer-ons, pull-offs and two-hand tapping sound more like a fuzzed-out funk banjo than a shred-friendly Ibanez, all while the off-tempo percussion trapped in a perpetual fill mirrors the unpredictable guitar lines.
The drums are managed as minimally as possible- Nate Kinsella raps on the snare and a tom or two while footing the bass and hi-hats, allowing him to mash away at a Wurlitzer organ with his other hand.
These organ parts, coupled with Bobby Burg's steady bass lines frame the musical melodically and hold the band together. Tim Kinsella leads the group with his signature off-key singing and throaty shouts. He even talks and reasons with himself on songs like "Another Song about Camping" and "Pat Tillman, Emmitt Till."
Their stand out track, "Political Mysticism" finds a way to work in Kinsella's atypical observations and play-on-words.
"The British Calendar Act of 1751 declared that the day after Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1752 would be Thursday, Sept. 14, 1752," he sings.
The bizarre time signatures and choppy, stream-of-consciousness lyrics featured on Make Believe often come off as pretentious. However, the band members have been expounding variations of this style with former groups (Cap'n Jazz, Owls, and Joan of Arc) for 15 years. At some point, pretense becomes mere shtick.
They split with long-time producer Steve Albini for this effort. The result is an overt lack of any exceptionally catchy songs but a more personal whole.
The group has fused into a cohesive unit, capable of conveying moods and themes across the span of the album. "Of Course" grows increasingly darker and hypnotic as it progresses, until the bright and playfully upbeat release of the last song, "Anything/Selling that Thing."
Overall, catchy hooks are an acceptable trade-off for consistency and group dynamics. "Of Course" is slightly similar to the last record, but Make Believe's brand of idiosyncratic anti-rock is still fresh and original.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
