With the current popularity of sunny noise pop acts, it’s somewhat surprising that Unicycle Loves You, a three-piece band from Chicago, hasn’t found much of an audience yet. While ‘80s and ‘90s indie legends like Guided By Voices and Dinosaur Jr. have experienced reunion success and rising groups such as Best Coast and Cults get lavished with hype, it’s possible that the lo-fi rock scene has reached its quota.
On its third album, Failure, Unicycle Loves You states its case for joining the cool club. The band certainly wears its influences on its sleeve, throwing elements of the aforementioned indie forebears into the blender along with bits of My Bloody Valentine, Sebadoh and just about any other late ‘80s/early ‘90s indie band you can think of. Unsurprisingly, the resulting concoction is very pleasant, if a bit scattershot. In fact, there are times on this compact 29-minute album where it almost sounds like you’re listening to a different band when one track ends and the next one begins. This may just be an effect of the contrast between the male/female vocals of Jim Carroll and Nicole Vitale, but given the fact that Unicycle’s style is not exactly anything new, this variety works to the band’s advantage.
The musicianship on Failure is nothing to sneeze at, which is another factor that helps separate this band from the pack. Vitale’s catchy basslines stand out in the first few tracks and are consistently complementary, and Carroll, while he’s no J. Mascis, is more than competent on the guitar, be it distortion-drenched electric or acoustic. Unicycle is at its best, though, when an element of dreaminess floats through the music. The dual vocals on “Brand New Pillow” give off an MBV vibe even while the gritty guitar tone is far more grounded than any sort Kevin Shields wizardry. The lyrics are simple but effective in expressing a sense of longing for togetherness, and they seamlessly round out what may be the best song on the album. Likewise, on the closer “Master Medical Driveway,” a tin-can effect on Carroll’s singing induces a zoned-out feeling over the repetitive strumming and atmospheric feedback.
The more straight-up indie rock-sounding songs on the album, like “Sun Comes Out (And I Don’t Care)” and “Piranha” are fun, but they’re a bit run-of-the-mill. There are interesting touches on these otherwise ordinary songs, though; the feedback squelches that open the album on “Garbage Dump” and the moment Carroll’s singing on “Piranha” shifts from a whisper buried in the mix to a Thurston Moore-esque vocal are among the most startling.
There’s certainly a quality to Unicycle Loves You’s music that demands some attention, and while Failure may not be interesting enough to garner a frenzy on the blogosphere, it should gain them a nice following. It’s a solid collection of throwback indie rock tunes and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Hopefully this group continues to experiment and find its niche, and judging by their zany press shots, that shouldn’t be a problem.
