Chairlift
"Evident Utensil"
2/7/2008 By Cam Lindsay

I still remember the first time I heard the Knife’s “Heartbeats.” It was four years ago, and immediately I was mesmerised by the Swedish duo. They sounded so alien, like nothing I’d heard before, and yet the song was unbelievably warm and beguiling. Hearing Chairlift’s “Evident Utensil” brought back that same rush: flamboyant and just-plain-bananas lead vocals (not to mention the histrionic bass-y one hiding in the background), summery instrumentation swaying as if it was cut for Billy Ocean, and of course, those delightfully naff lyrics (“The most evident utensil is none other than a pencil”?), which give it immediate cult status. And then there’s this other song of theirs called “Bloomingdales,” where they feature a preaching David Lynch sounding off on the “hellhole” that is Philadelphia over a dreamy bed of post-trip-hop that pinches the melody from Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour.”

They’ve gotta be from outer space, or at least somewhere in the remotest parts of Scandinavia, considering tinfoil is often worked into their performances. Alas, with all of this going for them, how disappointing it was then for me to discover that these three aren’t from Saturn or even Norway for that matter. Instead, they’re yet another group of eccentric art students from the fertile borough of Brooklyn (redirected from Boulder, Colorado). It makes complete sense that they’ve been playing shows with neighbours and like-minded kooks, Yeasayer and MGMT (who’ve remixed “Evident Utensil” for its b-side). All the same, their forthcoming full-length out some time this year, will be something to look forward to.

Chairlift “Evident Utensil”

Buy the seven-inch from Kanine Records here.
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