The Daredevil Christopher Wright, Alright?

My first exposure to The Daredevil Christopher Wright was the song "The East Coast". There was something in the quivering couplet, ‘Now that you’re married/Do you think it has changed you?’ that immediately affected me. It may seem strange considering how simple a lyric it is. And really, contextually speaking, it isn’t that revelatory. However, deft delivery transforms what could have been your everyday musical trope into one of the high points of their repertoire.    
In essence, a song about someone's brother moving several states away and getting hitched carries very little emotional weight. Unless, of course, the lyrics really delve into the kind of existential ruminations that come about when faced with the reality of how everyone around you is evolving into the kind of person that all red-blooded human beings wish to see their children evolve into. But... well… that would be kind of lame. 

The Daredevil Christopher Wright manages to be meaningful without sounding heavy-handed or novel. Perhaps, the finely tuned turns of phrase or the Americana mining orchestrations are what allow them to do this. It could be the fact that they occupy a sonic landscape somewhere between Nick Drake and Neutral Milk Hotel, thus feeling fresh and familiar at the same time. I personally think it has something to do with the way they incorporate whimsical flute lines into their songs.

Their record In Deference To a Broken Back encapsulates these things in a mélange of scrappy din and delicate folk. Bon Iver's Justin Vernon produced the thing, but his involvement is only slightly noteworthy. In fact, in some ways it may almost work to the band's detriment. It could be easy for some folks to write The Daredevil Christopher Wright off as just another in a long line of minimal folk acts based on this association alone (I'm playing Devil's advocate. Bon Iver is totally awesome).

Honestly, the songwriting speaks for itself, and from what I hear of their live show... it's also pretty great. I've unfortunately not had the pleasure of seeing the them. However, if their recorded output is any indication, you'd be hard pressed to find another trio of guys doling out sparsely constructed manic folk-pop in such a wonderful way.

The Daredevil Christopher Wright will be performing at Schubas tonight, but you can always find them on Myspace if you're in need of a quick fix.

Comments

[Art]

errr...D.C.W. whoops.

[Art]

Daredevil's live show IS amazing! One of the best bands I've seen live, and I've seen the Hold Steady, Spoon, most bands that have played Lollapalooza the last three years ...a lot of top notch bands, and though D.C.R. doesn't yet have the national recognition of some of these acts, I'd put them up next to most any...and I certainly hope that one day they have the same recognition too. They deserve it.