Stagestruck

THE CHAMBER STRINGS
@Red-Eyed Fly, Austin, TX
April 21, 2001
The Chamber Strings make sublimely beautiful pop music, with melodies that borrow from the best of Burt Bacharach and Ray Davies. Such intricately arranged music can be difficult to pull off live, but this evening the Chicago quintet had no such problem. Minus the string and horn arrangements of their records, the band simply turned up the guitars to compensate, with mild distortion filling up any empty space. High volume can be a detriment to such delicate music, but again this was not the case. Leader Kevin Junior writes the kind of close-your-eyes-and-hum melodies that hold up no matter what the style, and the extra muscle actually enhanced the songs. The Strings drew mostly from their latest album Month of Sundays, beginning with the lush instrumental title track, and continuing with gems like "Make It Through the Summer," "For the Happy Endings" and a stunning "It's No Wonder." They also delighted the sparse but appreciative crowd with "Everyday is Christmas" and the countrified "Telegraph" from their debut Gospel Morning. At around 40 minutes, the set seemed awfully short, perhaps because it was stuck in the middle slot on a Saturday. Though the audience would have happily stayed for more songs, the band seemed satisfied, and with a crush springing up around their merchandise table, well they should. Michael Toland