The Narrator

by Nadeem Ali

Tuneful smarty pants, The Narrator could be special ones

"The band’s wiry serrated edgy textures and twenty-something angst combine to beautiful effect."

Where has all the good North American indie-rock gone? You know the kind I’m talking about. The kind of band that can be simultaneously literate and melodic as well as cool as ice and heart meltingly warm. I’m talking about bands like Pavement, Guided By Voices and Built To Spill. Fear not friends because The Narrator might well be that band.

The Narrator are cocky and precocious. They come across as almost a little too smart for their own goods. Some might even uncharitably call them smart arses. If you visit their Myspace page it is full of sarky blog postings and announcements. Their website is a small affair full of more potential misinformation. Without meeting the band in person it would be unfair to dismiss as them such.

Their second full length album ’All That To The Wall’ is a relatively minimal affair. For most of its running time, the three-piece use only spindly voice, spindly guitar, not so spindly bass and kinda spindly drums to magic up their surprisingly potent sound.

They are no retro-indie act though. They may hark back in spirit to the sound of 80s/early 90s indie-rock but they their sound has been informed by all the different noises that have come and gone since then. They often go back further in time for inspiration to post-punk and beyond. They claim the disparate likes of Public Image Ltd’s Keith Levine and Stevie Winwood as influences.

Chicago residents The Narrator are singer/guitarist Sam Axelrod, bassist James Barron and singer/guitarist Jesse Woghin. Dave Turncrantz from labelmates Russian Circles played drums for most of ‘All That To The Wall’, although they have since added Kevin Vlack to the fold.

The band’s wiry serrated edgy textures and twenty-something angst combine to beautiful effect on a song like ‘Speeding Up The Gang’. A song about growing up, growing old and growing complacent something this writer can depressingly relate to. ‘All The Tired Horses’ just about resists turning this Dylan cover into an indie-disco anthem. In resisting this urge the band end with something far more interesting and far more moving.

The Narrator could be that band. What band? That band that make you feel clever and romantic, happy or sad. Not your favourite band ever but the secret darlings you quietly worship and cherish. That is the band we're talking about.

Be the first to comment on this article