Bound Stems

The Logic of Building the Body Plan

(FlameShovel)

Record Review by Kate Kowsh

As a mere prelude to bigger and better things to come from Bound Stems comes their seven- song EP, The Logic of Building the Body Plan. A true sampling, it offers original content in addition to the fruits of collaborations with co-producer Tim Sandusky, recorded at Chicago’s Studio Ballistico. It also features two tracks from their full-length release, Appreciation Nights, set to drop this summer.

Formed in Chicago in late 2002, Bound Stems are a five piece concoction of old friends that synergize a professional approach to music-making. Their skills really shine through their ability to change up time signatures with quickness and ease. Such mastery hints at hundreds of practice hours, only humanly attainable if a group were friends well-before they were a band. Their mission: to produce “approachable” music.

Body Plan is well-formed, with production carried out with meticulous detail. The tracks aren’t terribly jarring, but they’re a hell of a crowd pleaser—and, judging from the band’s MySpace bio, that’s exactly what they set out to create.

One element that flows throughout their tracks like a ribbon tying everything together is blinking, distorted electric guitar feedback. It gives them a comforting sense of loss. Some familiar-sounding rock n’ roll electric guitar riffs are also incorporated, bent to suit the singers’ monotone vocals while immersed in a stream of electronica. Also showing up in abundance are unpredictable, sometimes confusing soundbites. According to the band, they’re collected from “local grandmas, crafty cabbies, trains, party laughter, turnstiles, storytellers, and a fieldsworth of crickets.”

The standout track, “My Kingdom for a Trundle Bed,” is what a digital sunrise would sound like, with splinters of melodies cuing the vocals. Shuffled along by electric guitar chords, it ends abruptly, but makes a lasting impression.