Review: Today is Tonight / The Changes

Today is Tonight
The Changes
(Drama Club/Kitchenware, 2006)

3.5/5

Download "When I Wake"




The summer has ended, making way for fall and, then, winter. Weather is rather erratic in San Francisco, and there were a couple of days last week when it may as well have December. As the seasons start to change around year's end, I tend to walk around with a melancholy feeling. There is usually a record that soundtracks this mood, as well. Last year, it was Broken Social Scene's self-titled release, and the year before it was Alphabetical by Phoenix. This year it could very well be the debut album by a quartet fittingly called The Changes. The Changes, being from Chicago, know a bit about the changing of the seasons. The news page on their website proclaims, "Fall is slowly creeping in here in Chicago, and we in The Changes couldn't be more excited, we love Fall weather." Seasons aside, the Changes could easily be lumped in what seems to be a genuine pop resurgence, joining the likes of the Boy Least Likely To, the Pipettes and the Little Ones. What characterizes this resurgence is an emphasis on rhythms you can dance to, tight harmonies, lyrics you can understand and keeping the chorus a key part of the song.

Don't get me wrong - I love experimental music probably more than the next guy, but lately I found myself simply enjoying perfect pop rhythms. "Water of the Gods" has the guitar bounce of the Smiths' "This Charming Man," and early eighties influences are present throughout Today is Tonight. The difference between the Changes and your average household band of eighties revivalists is that singer Darren Spitzer sings with a level of sentimentality - he's not trying to convince you that he invented the sound. Even if they wear their influences on their sleeves, that doesn't stop the Changes from treading new pop ground.

In an era when bands avoid melodies and choruses entirely, the Changes jump right in on opener "When I Wake" with the memorable hook, "And when I wake/ it's the middle of the day/ and my phone is ringing." The fitting every-song-a-single mentality continues on to ballad "On a String," which - if The OC producers every get a hold of it - is likely to become next year's prom anthem. On "Modern Love," Spitzer sings, "All I needed/ was to hear what I'm feeling/ on the radio/ with the lights turned off." I don't know if he actually listens to the radio, but it probably just wouldn't sound right with "iPod" inserted instead.