Livingroom

A quick look through any current pop-rock chart today and you'll likely find one thing in common: the tracks are almost all composed of simple four-chord (or less) progressions of the same handful of diatonic chords. Repeated ad nauseam. Pop producers piggyback on the successes of the #1s of previous months, rehashing the same simple melodies that brought in bank for them before. The populace at large doesn't notice, they just get that warm fuzzy feeling inside of recognizing something that they subconsciously know. This phenomenon is largely what has made pop a lowest common denominator race for the bottom. But it does not need to be this way! Pop music is not required to be overly simple. It is simply required to be catchy. The industry may bank on this ultra-simple formula now but there have been many times in musical history where the masses have embraced pop music with complexity and diversity of composition.

Chicago-based Livingroom creates a hyper-catchy mix of indie pop, folk, and soft rock with strong jazz fusion sensibilities. The immensely talented group shifts keys and rhythms so smoothly and expertly that you never once lose track of the songs' infectious melodies (even though they are doing so many great technical things behind the scenes). On the heels of their 2020 debut EP Honeybee, they have released their first full-length LP Don't Shoot the Messenger which solidifies their sound which the group themselves have deemed “grape pop”. Light alternative fare from the 90s and 2000s is merged with a stage show-style jazz feel. Their smooth poppy sounds are definitely more than meets the ear.

The gathering orchestral swell of 'August II' ushers in the album. 'Keeping Time's clap-along beat and bright, shiny guitar chords makes for a great little bop. The band is air-tight as they play fast and loose with structure, key, and time. 'Window Shopping' features the effortless croon of a Michael Bublé standard. Soft 80s synth keeps the song floating in the clouds as Danny McNeela's guitar soars off into the horizon.

The blink and you'll miss is Tangents (Aside) has the pomp and sparkle of a Broadway showpiece. Groundswell piano backs the vocals that stretch to the second balcony and beyond. To follow, 'SOS' is a tune descended directly from Radiohead's The Bends. The sweeping, shimmering acoustic, the sauntering pace, and the joyfully wistful vocals that rise and fall in and out of falsetto like a bird on a blustery air current. All the markers from tracks like '(Nice Dream)', 'High and Dry', and 'Fake Plastic Trees'. The song 'Livingroom' closes out the affair with a swaying 6/8, heart-swelling indie vibe accompanied by Beirut-esque horns. Wistfully grand like a momentous homecoming.

Don't Shoot the Messenger is what pop-rock can be when you trust that the listener can handle a little more than four chords and a nursery rhyme. Livingroom is a talented group making creative, silky, hooky indie music.