Albums by this artist

Simple Days (2001)

Champale

Simple Days

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» TROY CARPENTER | CO-DIRECTOR

Champale Simple Days Pitch-A-Tent, 2001 RiYL: Lambchop, poppy Ween, Teenage Fanclub

Champale is easy listening for a new generation. The Brooklyn combo makes music for relaxation, smooth pop you can either close your eyes and revel to, or throw on in the background at a friendly gathering. To say the group's debut, Simple Days, is a tasty meeting of the studied pastoral pop of Teenage Fanclub and the backwoods orchestral arrangements of Lambchop is an approximation, Champale forges a distinctive sound out of these elements, and once you let the melodies sink in, the songs take on an elegance not easily given to comparison.

Just as the simplest day gains complexity and depth when reminisced upon, the songs on Simple Days grow out of modest frameworks and develop in their own deceptively subtle fashion into pop compositions of an almost Bacharachian polish. The glistening "'68 Comeback," for instance, starts in slowly over a quavering organ before introducing the unforgettable chorus "maybe simple days / have come and gone," highlighted by an uplifting horn section that remains for the rest of the tune.

Songs like "See You Around" take the opposite approach, starting with the verse-chorus progression and eventually dissolving into a patch of modality, where trumpets, guitars, and a vibraphone languidly dance around the chords. The group also shows an affinity for guitar rock on the uptempo "Change Your Life" and the more rusty opening to "Like I Do."

With solid songwriting, seasoned musicianship (the group features members of Luna, Clem Snide and Nada Surf), and charismatic arrangements, Champale should appeal to pop fans of many varieties.

TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.