Pitchfork: Infinite Mixtape #44: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"

Infinite Mixtape #44: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"

Not a day goes by at Pitchfork World Headquarters that we don't get our eyes and ears molested by news of some hot new band said to be intrepidly melding genres x, y, and z, cultivating "a sound that is all their own," saving the children, fighting the power, and changing the face of modern music as we know it.

And no, Bound Stems aren't that band, either. But "Western Biographic", from the Chicago-based four-piece's recent Flameshovel LP Appreciation Night, succeeds gloriously on its own merits by continually thwarting expectations, never settling on one genre, melody, or arrangement for long. In two-and-a-half short minutes, the band shifts from brooding guitarwork to barnburning mayhem to prancy piano to a bass-driven breakdown, and a chorus that erupts from the speakers with volcanic might. If this is how Chicago rolls from now on, consider us along for the ride.

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#0044 > Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
[from Appreciation Night; Flameshovel Records]
Info: [Bound Stems] | [MySpace] | [Flameshovel]

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// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0040: Malajube: "La Monogamie"
#0039: The Polyphonic Spree: "Sonic Bloom"
#0038: Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"
#0037: Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]"
#0036: Flying Canyon: "In the Reflection"
#0035: Califone: "The Orchids"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries