Caroline Polachek formed Chairlift with her college boyfriend Aaron Pfenning. The pair initially planned to make music for haunted houses but ended up following the time-honoured path – recording an EP. In 2006 they moved to Brooklyn and recorded their debut album, joined by new member Patrick Wimberly.
The trio were immediately successful, as the sweet indie pop of ‘Bruises’ was featured on an iPod commercial. Pfenning left Chairlift in 2010, but the remaining two members grew remarkably with their second album, Something, a near-masterpiece of smooth sophisti-pop. Polachek’s vocals became more athletic, able to jump smoothly into falsetto.
The group gained wider recognition when they wrote and helped produced ‘No Angel’, from Beyoncé’s 2013 self-titled album. Chairlift split after their third album, 2016’s pop-oriented Moth. Polachek’s enjoyed acclaim as a solo artist, embracing her inner Enya, while Wimberly has worked with Solange and Joji.
2008, 6/10 Caroline Polachek was still a student at the University of Colorado when Chairlift recorded their debut album. While they were a duo for much of their recording career, Chairlift are still a trio on their debut – Aaron Pfenning duets with Polachek on several tracks.
Chairlift were immediately successful with this debut – ‘Bruises’ was featured on an iPod commercial. But overall Does You Inspire You is their weakest album – it’s a portrait of a young band throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. There’s some odd material that feels incongruous – most notably the country duet on ‘Don’t Give a Damn’, but also the silly French excursion of ‘Le Flying Saucer Hat’.
At the same time, there’s worthwhile material here past ‘Bruises’. ‘Planet Health’ has a memorable melody, and Polachek sounds great holding the long syllables at the end of each line. The funky pop of ‘Evident Utensil’ presages the direction they’d explore on Moth.
If Chairlift had only recorded Does You Inspire You, they’d be dismissed as a one-hit wonder, with some justification.
Something
2012, 8.5/10 Pared down to a duo of Polachek and Wimberly, Chairlift also streamlined their sound with their second album. The uncertain genre-hopping of the debut is replaced by intelligent and sophisticated pop. The duo worked with producer Dan Carey, who they chose due to his “punchy, textural, open” sound.
There’s a particularly strong stretch in the middle of Something – the dramatic chorus of ‘Ghost Tonight’ allows Polachek to display her vocal chops, while the elegant balladry of ‘Cool as a Fire’ recalls Portishead. The duo’s debt to Stereolab is clear on the gentle songs at the end like ‘Turning’ and ‘Guilty as Charged’. The crown jewel of the record, and of Chairlift’s entire discography, is ‘I Belong in Your Arms’, putting just enough drive behind a tender melody.
Something is Chairlift’s undeniable peak, sophisticated and wide-ranging.
Moth
2016, 7.5/10 With its four-year gestation time, Moth gives the impression that it was a difficult album to make. The duo broke up shortly after, and it feels like they just managed to fill out a 40-minute running time by including some weaker tracks. It’s more pop-oriented than before – foreshadowing Polachek’s solo work. When Moth works, it’s great – the strong material is up with the best moments of Something, even if their music’s less nuanced.
The highlights include the sophisti-pop of ‘Crying in Public’, the unabashed pop of ‘Moth to a Flame’, and ‘Polymorphing’, a funky track with quickfire lyrics and Polachek and Wimberly on congas. ‘Ch-ching’ emphasises the group’s R&B side, not surprising after their Beyonce collaboration. Moth tails off at the end, and the songs without immediate hooks are drab in comparison to the hook-laden highlights.
Moth was Chairlift’s final album, leaving Polachek free to explore her easy-listening Celtic predilections on her solo career.
10 Best Chairlift Songs
I Belong in Your Arms Ghost Tonight Moth to a Flame Cool as a Fire Polymorphing Bruises Crying in Public Planet Health Met Before Amanaemonesia
Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person.
Graham Fyfe is probably the only music blogger to appreciate both Neil Diamond and Ariana Grande. Based in Fleet Street (New Zealand), he's been writing this blog since around 2000. Aphoristic Album Reviews features reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.
Review Pages
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
Boston quintet The Cars were arguably the quintessential New Wave band. They combined the back-to-basics approach of new wave, forward-thinking synthesiser textures, and bright power pop melodies. It’s not difficult to see influences from art-rockers David Bowie and Roxy Music in the detached presence of front-man Ric Ocazek and in […]
San Francisco quartet the Red House Painters (named after the Tennesseean painting crew, The International League Of Revolutionary House Painters) made their debut with 1992’s Down Colorful Hill on the 4AD label. The band fitted into the recently coined slowcore genre, with their stately arrangements and introspective lyrics. The word band […]
Yet another great musical act to come out of the state of Minnesota (see also Bob Dylan, Prince, Hüsker Dü, and The Hold Steady). The Impediments changed their name to The Replacements after they were banned from most of Minneapolis’s bars. The group was led by guitarist and songwriter Paul […]
British collective Sault have eschewed all the usual rules of music-making in their brief and eventful career. They’ve veiled their identities, never played a live gig, never released a music video, and have produced material at a breakneck pace. They’ve released eleven albums between 2019 and 2022, as well as production […]
Robert Zimmerman was born in Minnesota in 1941, renaming himself Bob Dylan after Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Dylan started his musical career dabbling in rock and roll, and saw Buddy Holly perform three days before Holly’s death. He shifted his interest to American folk music while at university, finding early […]
This page collects miscellaneous reviews for 1990s artists who I’ve just covered a handful of albums by: Eric Clapton | Dream Theater | Ben Harper | Various Artists: Heisei No Oto | Alanis Morissette | Nas | Oasis | Liz Phair | Primal Scream | Stone Temple Pilots | Teenage Fanclub | […]
Blog Posts
I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections:
When Ian Curtis committed suicide on the eve of an American tour, it marked the end of Joy Division. Guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris continued making music together as New Order. Sumner took over lead vocals and Morris’ girlfriend Gillian Gilbert joined on keyboards and […]
If you’re not from Australasia, chances are that you’re not familiar with Dave Dobbyn – he’s ubiquitous in New Zealand, but obscure everywhere else. When a panel selected the New Zealand’s best ever popular songs in 2001, five Dave Dobbyn songs were included in the top 30 (and ‘Outlook for […]
Japanese-American indie-rock musician Mitski is one of the most interesting figures currently working in popular music – Iggy Pop famously labelled her as “the most advanced American songwriter that I know”. While guitar rock can sometimes feel stale in the 21st century, Mitski’s fascinating. Her music often feels like the […]
When Mike Scott formed The Waterboys he was the group’s only member, recording most of their self-titled 1983 debut alone in the studio. Since then, The Waterboys have churned through more than 85 members – Scott believes this is a record, beating out other fast-changing bands like The Fall and […]
Liverpool’s second-most famous band, Echo & the Bunnymen arrived in the post-punk era; they released their debut single in 1979. Their early career mirrors U2‘s – both released their first four albums between 1980 and 1984. Both were enjoying mainstream success in the UK by 1984 – Echo & the […]
British soul collective Sault have broken almost every rule of album-making during their brief career. Debuting in 2019, they’ve already released 11 studio albums; yet they’ve never played live or given an interview. Their already sizeable catalogue has taken in everything from smooth R&B to raw post-punk, gospel-tinged soul to […]
