Hear Here: Chris Forsyth, there are no words
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
These songs are fast-paced, with lots of dazzling, hooky melodies.
Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band
Like a lot of rock critics, I assume, I feel a bit handcuffed when I’m writing about instrumental bands. Maybe it’s the English major in me: I feel safer with lyrics to guide me.
Lately, however, Philadelphia has produced some instrumental acts that demand my attention (and can’t be handed off to our experts in jazz or the city’s many classical cover bands). One, of course, is the duo of Mary Lattimore and Jeff Zeigler — two rock ’n’ roll side players who make daring, harp-centric compositions together. We liked their Slant of Light album so much we put them on the cover of the Music Issue last month.
Chris Forsyth is a different animal. A rock guitarist with serious chops, he makes music that fits fairly comfortably on a playlist with other familiar Philly bands: War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Purling Hiss. The aforementioned Zeigler produced or engineered records for all of those guys, by the way. He also produced Intensity Ghost, the debut full-length by Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band, just released on No Quarter Records.
In the past, Forsyth’s agile guitar style has been called hypnotic, but that makes it sound like you’re supposed to zone out: These songs are fast-paced, with lots of dazzling, hooky melodies to pay attention to. Some parts are bluesy or proggy, but the prevailing mood is thoughtful exhilaration. With no lyrics to tell me otherwise, I’m envisioning car chases, raging storms and time-lapse footage of calving glaciers. It’s best played loud.
I asked Forsyth what he imagined people would do while listening to Intensity Ghost. “Drive very fast, wash dishes, write poetry, make love,” he replied. So I was sort of right about the car chase thing.
Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band, Wed., Nov. 5, 8:30 p.m., $12, Marshall Allen and The Orange Drop, Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St., 267-639-4528, bootandsaddlephilly.com.
