John Thompson

When you listen to a song by Chicago art-pop outfit Pit Er Pat, you really can't figure out what's exactly happening. With swirling organ tones, organic bass lines, unconventional drumming and Fay Davis-Jeffers' gentle, unobtrusive vocals, a typical track from Pit Er Pat sounds like a deconstructed lullaby, but one that's not soporific--every song bursts with peculiar, infectious energy, as evinced by drummer Butchy Fuego's expressive live playing. It's this sound that makes Pit Er Pat's talent difficult to ignore and its influences hard to identify. It also makes the question of the band's musical identity a difficult one to answer. "I'd try to avoid that question," Fuego playfully says.

The sound is as enigmatic as the band itself, which defies any normal template for what a rock band should be. The traditional narrative for the story of Pit Er Pat begins something like this: singer Josh Gleason co-opted drummer Butchy Fuego, keyboardist Fay Davis-Jeffers and bassist Rob Doran to back him in a band called Blackbirds in 2001. Gleason abruptly left the project the following year to pursue a solo career in New York, leaving the rest of the band behind. The three remaining members forged ahead together and Pit Er Pat was born. Four years since, that back-story serves merely to foreground an epic. Pit Er Pat signed to renowned indie label Thrill Jockey in 2004 after self-releasing its debut EP "Emergency" and just prior to releasing its first full-length, "Shakey." Since then, the band has released another EP, as well as the 2006 LP "Pyramids," and the early days have been all but forgotten. "[That part of our history] is something we don't try to draw attention to. The press likes to talk about it," says Fuego. "We've been in this lineup for four-and-half years, which is way longer than the original setup."

On the band's latest, "Pyramids," the benefit of maintaining a consistent lineup over such a long stretch shows itself. The record was finished in only eleven days at Soma Studios, a short span that gives the songs a kind of breathless urgency and tireless energy. "It was pretty crazy. It was half-improvised. We had kind of written the stuff and we were able to incorporate [improvisation] into the recording process," Fuego explains. "We wanted to record something that had a real immediate feeling to it." Another significant aspect of the new tracks is their maturity. Though Pit Er Pat has always been laden with talent, the early work on "Shakey" and other recordings was often criticized for being too spasmodic, too herky-jerky or confusing. "Pyramids" is a much more internally consistent effort that doesn't sacrifice the band's curious vibe, and for that it is an excitingly novel Pit Er Pat album. "I think every step is an evolution. `Shakey' was definitely a big evolution from the first EP," Fuego points out. "We're not going for something that's super-consistent. We are constantly evolving and changing and taking new forms."

Indeed, the members of Pit Er Pat have a lot of experience working with new forms. All three members are involved in artistic projects outside of the band. Davis-Jeffers, who graduated from the Art Institute in 2000, draws, writes and "does stuff with clothes." Fuego works in different sound projects. Doran is a graphic designer and printmaker. The band members' cumulative skill means they never have to outsource their merchandising work--shirts, posters, even the album covers for the "Emergency" EP are all homemade. "It's all things that we would probably be doing otherwise. There's a necessity for all these other products and it's an avenue for us to direct that energy," Fuego says. A newly minted, yet-to-be-named EP, following closely on the heels of "Pyramids," was just recorded by the band at home. With so much artistic dexterity, coupled with its attractive sound, Pit Er Pat has become one of the distinctive, emerging lights in the Chicago indie scene.

The band will be able to show off its new status when it begins a month-long residency at Schubas during January. Every Monday, Pit Er Pat will share the stage with some of its best friends. "A booking agent we worked with asked if we wanted to do it and we picked all the bands that we wanted to play with," Fuego explains. The drummer gets gleeful--and surprisingly selfless--when listing off everyone who will be playing. The list includes some of the biggest names in Chicago rock, among them Make Believe, Tim Kinsella's Flameshovel project, and Brokeback, the solo moniker of Doug McCombs, the bassist for Tortoise. Other performers include Bronze, a conglomeration of members from bands Icy Demons and Michael Columbia, and Matteah Baim, who played with Siera Casady (CocoRosie) in a band called Metallic Falcons. Fuego couldn't be more excited: "The great thing about the scene is that everyone is scattered all over the place and there's still a sense of community. And we have friends that we could ask to play with us who make music much differently than we do."

Pit Er Pat begins its month-long residency January 8 at Schubas, 3159 North Southport, (773)525-2508, at 8pm. $6.

(2007-01-02)

Also by John Thompson

Tip of the Week
At the forefront of Columbus, Ohio's indie rock scene sits Melty Melty, a band that mixes electronic blips with laidback guitar lines (a la Pinback) and "found sound," various sound bites including radio addresses and vocoded weather forecasts (a la Bound Stems)
(2006-12-05)

Apocalypse Now
"If the future is the apocalypse," Bridgeport native and artist Ed Marszewski declaimed to the New York Times in February, "then Bridgeport is the community of the future"
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Critical Music
Blood-and-guts art-punk that goes for the jugular and clamps on it with a wink and a smirk--that's the brand of rock South London's Art Brut has brought the world since releasing "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" last year
(2006-03-28)

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