Anyone who suffers from insomnia and has lain in bed for hours with nothing but your own meandering mind for company, will be familiar with the random and mundane thoughts that sometimes pop into your head, thoughts such as “I really hate that ad with the bloated frog”. When I caught myself having these types of brain spasms during Chief’s second song at Academy 2, I knew something was wrong. I was bored. As in, really, really bored.
Now let’s get this straight: I cannot fault the long-haired four-piece Californian band technically, and love the chilled vibes of their debut album Modern Rituals, whose gorgeous harmonies and poignant songs like ‘This Land’, ‘Breaking Walls’ and ‘Summer’s Day’ invoke the atmosphere of 1970s America and make me want to get a bit stoned and drive a battered Cadillac along a sunblazed highway.
But the lads seem to have taken the getting stoned part to the extreme, if tonight’s blank expressions and formulaic performance are anything to judge by. While the (fantastic) drummer Michael Fujikawa put a bit of passion into his playing, jumping out of his seat more often than sitting on it, the empty gaze of singer Evan Koga and the lack of stage presence demonstrated by the other band members indicated that they were merely going through the motions.
As a result, Chief failed to imbue the songs with any emotion, or even basic enthusiasm, until their closing rendition of ‘Night and Day’, when guitarist and vocalist Danny Fujikawa broke out some happy hoe-down moves and bassist Mike Moonves engaged in some light headbanging. Unfortunately it was too little too late.
The album is great, and I fully recommend blasting it out on a summer’s day, but for future gigs, be warned: it’s B.Y.O.A: Bring Your Own Atmosphere.