THREE STARS
"\'d?-m ?n f?- 'mil-y?r\ noun 1. An animal-shaped spirit in servitude to a witch. 2. An external animal manifestation of a person's soul. 3. A garage-pop trio from Chicago aiming to deliver songs so unforgettable they'll be tattooed on your cerebral cortex." If you're thinking I'm a sixth grader for using the dictionary for an opening line of a piece of writing, you would be correct in that dictionary beginnings suck (although they would prove that Daemon Familiar spelled tattooed wrong). But since I don't like anything enough to want it tattooed on my cerebral cortex (I'd prefer the neosuperimportantcortex, thank you) and hate the dictionary, you would be more correct in guessing that the above clarifications about the meaning of "Daemon" would be the interpretation of the band itself, found on their own Web site.
A little cheesy, like their self-descriptions and my intros, local up-and-coming Chicago-based Daemon Familiar still manages to be catchy on their debut album, Dawn of the Albatross. Mixing hard rock, powerpop and garage rock, Daemon Familiar gives listeners songs about heartache and heartbreak. When they're not sad about bad relationships though, they set aside time for Oprah.
"Oprah," the first song on the album, sums up the band's views on the Midwest's Martha: They hate the "post-modern capitalist czar." Poking fun at the hypocrisy of Oprah's lifestyle and how she still manages to fancy herself a do-gooder on her talk show, along with other celebrities, Daemon Familiar proves they're willing to mess with the mother of all talk show hosts, unafraid. But methinks Daemon Familiar is a bit harsh on the daytime host. Oprah's not so bad. All I'm saying is Daemon Familiar is not getting a free car.
A lot of songs on Dawn of the Albatross feature instrumentals that have an old hard rock sound that comes naturally, and yet they manage to sound like they're still from this decade. But with so many songs about heartache, with not much variation (just your "I've been dumped" songs) Daemon Familiar loses some of the scenery that you want on a road trip. This is not to say the songs aren't good, or don't each have their own sound, it's just that some lady is going to feel really bad about breaking Daemon Familiar's little lyricist's heart.
Sad lyrics don't in any way make the songs less catchy, and Daemon Familiar manages to take some breaks from heartache. Songs such as "Ulysses," "Kiss Me" and "All is Forgotten" let Daemon Familiar heal a bit. The song "I Hate to See You Go," (although about heartache) breaks a bit out of their typical scheme by resembling Sublime while still having a lead singer that sounds like Nerf Herder's Parry Gripp (only less nerdy). That (the lack of nerdiness) of course can't be completely right, because, I mean, the album name is Dawn of the Albatross.
As a band that idolizes Cheap Trick, these Chicago natives can't go too wrong. When I think about Daemon Familiar, I think about a band that you could listen to with your dad. When you're not listening to it, you don't really care, but when it's on, you realize that they're pretty good. And if ever Daemon Familiar decides they don't want to make it in the music business, they can always fall back on personally editing dictionaries, preferably with free Sharpies (from Oprah).
Visit phoenixdiversions.wordpress.com for streams of this week's music.
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