CHAFT – 95
Music has healing properties. All clichés and platitudes aside, CHAFT‘s latest EP, the five-song 95, is evidence of this hypothesis – written and recorded during a life-changing medical diagnosis and subsequent surgery, songwriter Derek Miller channeled his raw anxiety into this powerful collection of songs. With themes of mortality, appreciation, and panic weaving their way across the music found here, CHAFT captures a vulnerable moment in time through a jangly, indie rock lens, sure to appeal to fans of Pavement, Pixies, and every jangly thing in-between. Opener and title-track “95” is an excellent distillation of Miller’s sound – the wry delivery a la The Dismemberment Plan’s Travis Morrison; the punchy basslines of Kim Deal; and the lightly-psychedelic sound of late 90s pop rock make their way into this song. There’s a unique juxtaposition here between the generally upbeat-sounding music and the fact that these songs were conceived during a time[...]