“Her, You and I”
from the EP The Changes
2005
Download an MP3 of “Her, You and I” from the band’s website
[right-click/save-as]
The first thing to know about the Changes is that they’re okay with being compared to the Police. This is fortunate, because much of the press the band has received in the few short years it’s been together has made favorable comparisons between it and Sting & Co.
“We get compared to them so much, and I think it’s kind of strange because I don’t think any of us even think about the Police that much,” guitarist-vocalist David Rothblatt says. But the Changes’ clean-line sound, penchant for slinging catchy hooks and ability to inject slight melancholia into cool, upbeat pop is classic Police. And when singer-guitarist Darren Spitzer’s voice leaps into his high register, it’s almost eerily Sting-like.
|
The Changes |
The second thing to know about the Changes is that they’re poised to be the next band to break out from Chicago’s bars and into the mainstream. The announcement of the new one-off Lollapalooza festival (July 23-24) was followed by news that the Changes would be the only unsigned band, and one of the few Chicago acts, in a lineup stocked with rock giants and the most recent batch of breathlessly praised up-and-comers.
The Changes make it look so easy. The band came together in late 2002, and hit their ’80s-laced sound right off the bat. “I don’t think there was much thought as to what it would sound like,” Rothblatt says. “It just kind of happened.”
And then the shows happened. The band opened for Hot Hot Heat, the Walkmen, Ted Leo and other modern pop standard-bearers. In the meantime, the band members started recording, and produced the sessions themselves despite their lack of experience. “Each [recording session] we’re learning something,” Rothblatt says. “The first one was our first time in a studio. None of us had been in rock bands, and we didn’t know what to do. We went in, played our songs, mixed it and left. The second time we realizes we had been idiots, and that what you do is overdub.”
“It was like this genius realization,” adds bassist-singer Rob Kallick with a laugh. Despite its lack of studio layering, their debut release, an EP titled First of May, is surprisingly strong, full of chiming guitars and vocal melodies that leap out of the speakers and burrow themselves into the listener’s brain. They followed it up with an equally strong, more fleshed-out set of four new songs. Their self-released, self-titled EP cemented their status as the darlings of the Chicago scene’s pop faction.
That recognition may help the Changes release a full-length album. Earlier this summer they stopped in New York City on their first tour, and label reps were in the crowd. Given the way Lollapalooza came knocking, it’s likely the majors will follow suit. Kallick and Rothblatt joke about their goal of signing to Dreamworks (“Anything with David Geffen,” Kallick laughs), but they’re half-joking at best. Since the ’80s is firmly entrenched as the sound of the ’00s, a big-label contract for a band that revisits the era’s most intelligent (and biggest-selling) sounds doesn’t seem so out there.
Yet for all the attention thrown their way and all of their potential, the Changes don’t come off like rock stars. While many other musicians would panic or brag about sharing a stage with the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr., Kallick says, “I don’t want to have too high of expectations for it. We might just be on a tiny stage in the corner.” In fact, the only time any excitement over the gig comes through is when Kallick and Rothblatt discuss how amped drummer Jonny Basofin is over the prospect of being on the festival’s T-shirt, and they still seem more stoked about headlining at Schubas than opening for Weezer.
So while they prepare for a tour and a concert that may make their careers, the Changes are keeping their heads down. They’re still recording, trying to push their sound into new parts of the musical map, and still ending up at one familiar spot. “We’ll do the craziest things and think, ‘God, we’re really going out on a limb,’ ” Kallick says. “And we’ll play it for someone and they’ll say, ‘It really sounds like the Police.’ ” ~ Time Out Chicago