Be Bop
The Chronics
by Evan Gillespie

A lot of people have waited a long time for the new Chronics album, and I'm one of them. And like I always do when I'm eagerly awaiting a new release, I got nervous while I was waiting. What if I don't like it? Will I have to change my opinion of my favorite local band? I wasn't sure I was ready for such a drastic change in my life.

Turns out, I needn't have worried. Be Bop is every bit as appealing as anything The Chronics have done in the past. The band continues to evolve, trying new approaches (and even adding a new member, Shane Wyant) while maintaining their impressive ability to try only the new approaches that work; change for the sake of change is simply not the way The Chronics do things. Be Bop has more of a funky electronic feel than previous material, but it's far from gimmicky.

What hasn't changed on Be Bop, though, is the band's tendency to make the most of relatively simple things. You might not think of The Chronics' in-your-face music as understated, but their songs (especially ones like Be Bop's title track) are often built around single phrases (or words or even syllables), and Jane Palajac's guitar always cuts right to the heart of rock n' roll without taking any flashy, irrelevant detours.

The rhythm section of Rose Lazoff (bass) and Jerry Miller (drums) is as strong as ever, delivering the songs with a playful fury. Lazoff is in fine vocal form, too, pulling off an Ani Difranco-esque charm on "Spy" and various degrees of eerie moan on "Mouth Off" and "Weirdo."

My only complaint with Be Bop ã and "complaint" is perhaps not the right word ã is that it's short. I would have loved to hear an album that was five hours long rather than five tracks, but I suppose that a short, well-crafted album is better than a long, haphazard one ã and there's nothing haphazard about Be Bop.

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