Album Review: Does You Inspire You by Chairlift

Chairlift is a band about occult flotation. The world Aaron Pfenning, Patrick Wimberley and Caroline Polachek occupy revolves at a different pace and has a different sense of gravity than ours. They want to give us visions of this other world that simultaneously works within and on top of our own. Of course, behind every chairlift is some ingenious mechanism of showmanship.

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It’s that very important time in every young band’s life: when they’ve got to prove that they’re worth the buzz. The hotly-tipped Chairlift have been featured by Spin, insulted by Kanye West (but really, who hasn’t), and spotlighted on every blog worth its indie cred. While this trio might originally be from Colorado, their time in Brooklyn has been well spent.

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Chairlift's Bruises, a featherlight track currently lifting the sales of iPod nanos, tells us a lot about the band's debut album. A natural meeting point between Peter, Björn and John's Young Folks, the Cure's Love Cats and Feist's 1234, it sounds calculatedly quirky, and its overbearing sweetness sours its charms. All too often on Does You Inspire You, this excess is a blight.

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This album was originally released in 2008, but was re-released in 2009 with two new tracks tacked on, the delightful “Le Flying Saucer Hat” and “Dixie Gypsy”. The Brooklyn, NYC-based (by way of Boulder, CO) band has gained acclaim and a following for its indie-pop that marries off-beat lyrics, 80s-style instrumentation and song structures, and the languid to crestfallen to pert vocals from Caroline Polachek. The band line up is filled out by Aaron Pfenning (vocals / electronics / guitars) and Patrick Wimberly (drums / bass guitar / keyboard).

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