I’ve been listening to the debut album by Chairs in the Arno for weeks now and I haven’t been able to pick a favorite track yet.
The album, File Folder, is chock full of Moogs (oh, the marvelous Moog), delightful guy/girl vocals, and synthpop goodness. Basically, they cater to fans of their favorite bands: Dntel, Grandaddy, Barcelona, and Casiotone For The Painfully Alone.
File Folder starts out with a few measures of fuzzy keyboards that are lifted from Gary Neuman’s “Cars,” but because of the lyrics alone, the song “I Never Loved You Anyways” will always have a place in my heart. I often hit repeat on “Suit Pressed,” “Popsicle,” and “Winter Song.” But any Rentals fan should run directly to “Preprogrammed Casio.”
Unfortunately they don’t have any shows on their calendar (one member of the band is in Morocco with the Peace Corps), but they are looking to play some smaller shows with half the band in the bay area (you know, if you have a house party to book).
You can hear for yourself; there’s a couple places around the web with CitA songs at the ready for you to download:
- “I Never Loved You Anyways” (download the MP3 on the CitA website)
- “Winter Song” (download the MP3 on the CitA website)
- “Size Thirty” (download the MP3 from this website)
- “Sequencing Anxiety” (hear it on the CitA MySpace page)