Chin Up Chin Up's debut record had a back story before it was even completed; it's not a behind-the-music tabloid tale, but a genuine tragedy: In February 2004, the members of Chin Up Chin Up had just finished mixing demos for We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers, their first full-length, and attended a show at Chicago venue the Empty Bottle. A little after 1 a.m. on Valentine's Day morning, bassist Chris Saathoff ducked out of the club with his girlfriend. The couple crossed a neighboring intersection as an SUV sped toward them, striking Saathoff as he pushed his girlfriend to safety. The driver never stopped, and Saathoff was dragged for nearly two blocks. The 26-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
After that, the band "all hung out together more than we hung out as a band," according to singer Jeremy Bolen. "We didn't think about music for a long time." However, after some encouraging from Saathoff's own parents and a few benefit shows at the Empty Bottle, the band were ready to continue, and completed the album while keeping as much of Saathoff's bass parts on it as possible. The only track recorded afterward, album closer "All My Hammocks are Dying", has no bass at all.
Chin Up Chin Up's sound owes much to artists like 90 Day Men, June of 44, Slint, and Tortoise; the album's busy guitar parts, xylophones, and unwieldy song titles all scream math-rock. Yet on this record, the band sound like they're growing out of and beyond that scene. You can hear it clearly on the title track, which opens with swirling keyboards and an acapella vocal before the fastest rhythm of the album takes hold, which the band stops and starts around moody interludes and strange group harmonies.
Elsewhere, a thumping post-rock intro falls away while the band gets all Rapture on the verses of "Collide the Tide" (re-recorded from their self-titled EP, this version has busier production and is a little stiffer) with phased synthesizers and hand-muted guitar scrapes. The band's kitchen-sink approach its arrangements threatens to overcome its melodies, but the tracks are saved by CUCU's grasp of tension and release as well as their memorable hooks. And tracks like "Collide the Tide" and the Modest-Mouse-ish rave-up "All My Hammocks Are Dying," We Should Have Never... reveal a band with its eyes looking in a few different directions.
The record's big obstacle is Bolen's vocal delivery. His voice doesn't sound "bad" so much "forced," with vocals sung in hushed, scratchy tone that seems either insecure or like a misguided attempt at sounding cool. Fortunately, he doesn't always sing in such an affected whisper. There are occasions, like on the album's other big stand-out "Virginia Don't Drown", where Bolen reaches for the notes in a normal voice while the band breaks into a note-perfect Cure imitation behind him. Moments like this feel like cracking a window on the album's claustrophobic arrangements, and give a glimpse of how much more Chin Up Chin Up are capable of.
