coltrane motion: thumbs up!

There’s a Chicago duo I’ve been listening to quite a bit lately, a band called Coltrane Motion who play fuzzy little unambitious indie-pop songs. There’s nothing terribly special about them — as a band, as people I’m sure they’re just peachy — but that’s part of the appeal: this is genre music that adheres to rules and boundaries and plays within them. Their songs are very straight-forward, little squiggly hooks sung in a nasally voice, and their lyrics are about girls and heartbreak and being young but growing old and how great it is when it’s summer. The recording quality is murky at best, time-stamping the songs right in the middle of nowhere, sounding a bit like early Pavement and Sebadoh but also the Ponys and that Killed By 9V Batteries band who Joe and I raved about earlier. Here are the songs I like on their new album, Songs About Music: “You Make It Easy,” “Can’t,” “Ex-Girlfriend in a Coma” and “How To Be.”

On a related note, I have to give it up to 17 Dots commenter X-Ray Dash (who runs the excellent Candied Pop (give’m some hits)) for pointing out the Submarine Races, the new band by Ian Adams, the dude who made the Ponys so great. I really like their record, and it fits in this same Coltrane Motion mold of garage-y indie pop. Plus, they are also from Chicago. I like the whole record, but start with: “Difficult Night,” “Get Yourself Together” and “One Forward, Three Back.”

LINX! Coltrane Motion Official Website & Submarine Races Official Website