New on the music scene, Chicagoland’s Crayolala is a five-piece band making big strides. Formed in April of 2009, with a line up change over the summer, bringing in a new drummer Chris Dunn and bass player Matt Maloney, the band has been playing in its current incarnation since August. Since then they’ve been playing shows and spreading their good word, in which they “encourage physical fitness and teach newborn babies to read.”
The band has played a variety of venues, most recently the Metro this past Saturday alongside Kid, You’ll Move Mountains, Venna, and Picture Books. The new comers were surprised to land such a prestigious venue so early in their development and put the venue in their list for top venues to play in Chicago. “We’ve all seen amazing and legendary shows at the Metro, it was a very exciting offer for all of us.”
Crayolala is a band comprised of powerpop and new wave sounds, which vary from the Deevo-esque to the more aggressive Foxy Shazam, with vocals that fall in line with Hot Hot Heat. Full of synth and keys, rowdy guitar riffs and vocals with all the enthusiasm in the world, Crayolala is a definite crowd pleaser, and pretty much impossible not to bop along with. The band offers a free CD, titled Boom Shaka Laka, that is made up of six tracks built to make you shake it. Recorded by synth/percussionist Keith Dunn, the CD is packaged with the same quirk you’d expect from such a band, and definitely a freebie worth taking them up on.
You can get your copy of the CD and dance along with Crayolala Tuesday, January 19th at Ronny’s with Elephant Gun and Children of Spy. 8pm, $5, 21+
Reviewsic recently talked shop with Crayolala, represented here by front man Kenan Hattington.
T.S: Any music resolutions for the New Year?
K.H: A resolution we’ve made is to book a tour for the summer probably to the east coast. We also decided that we shouldn’t cook elaborate meals instead of practice, we should practice first then cook elaborate meals.
T.S: If you could have any musician, dead or alive, make an appearance with you on stage, who would it be?
K.H: Kevin Barnes or David Byrne
T.S: What are your top 5 bands/albums of 2009?
K.H: Not in any particular order:
1. Hustle Beach by Chicago’s own Baby Teeth
2. Bitte Orca by The Dirty Projectors
3. Merriweather Post Pavillion by Animal Collective
4. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
5. The Great Misdirect by Between the Buried and Me
T.S: If Crayolala was written as a fairy tale, how would it start?
K.H: Deep down in the mystical sugar forest lived five dedicated and honest musicians working hard to make songs that would forever change the world. Then Crayolala slaughtered those musicians and through ritualistic cannibalism gained their strength. With their newfound powers, they worked out, popped pills and had infinite sex forever.
T.S: What’s in store for your music in 2010?
K.H: We’ve planned on going in a dancey direction from the beginning of the band but right now we’re somewhere closer to schizophrenic power-pop. In 2010 we plan on delivering when it comes to bringing audiences some serious “dance/rock”
With the intention of uniting new music with new listeners, Reviewsic is a Chicago based blog that writes album, show, and artist reviews, with daily posts delivering music news and exclusive interviews.
