Articles of 2010 Part VIII: The Chap

So I've been told recently that I take criticism to heart, and that may be true but I never really see the point in seeking anyone's approval. I'm generally proud of what I do without being self-satisfied. There's always improvements to make, always tonnes to learn and that's the way it should be, otherwise why carry on? By the same token, I don't compare anything I write to anyone else because I don't see the point. However anyone who says in his bio, with all seriousness, that "he even rejects typical notions of creativity...and instead sees himself as one who simply reflects the earthly forces and realities that surround him," should probably look a bit deeper at himself and work out exactly the point when his head and anal passage become fused instead of criticising others.

Anyway, The Chap are fucking amazing and need far more attention than I can give them. But at least I'm doing something.

The Chap

Pop music should be mined, explored and retrieved from an array of wild ideas. Some of the best songs ever have been the result of madcap ideas: slashing speaker cones a la The Kinks or nicking Kerry King from Slayer like the Beastie Boys. This bravery doesn't often extend to entire catalogues of work though. The Chap's version of pop music is formed from a constant disregard for formulas and playing safe. That's why their four albums are all sublime yet inextricably weaved works of eccentric sounds and noises.
“On this one and the previous album, we were aiming at writing some very shiny, straight forward pop music. In both cases (Mega Breakfast more than Well Done Europe), some of that old screetchy chap magic kept sneaking back in and made it all a lot less commercial than originally intended. We just can’t help ourselves! On Mega Breakfast, the poppiness was intended to sound quite sick and misplaced, which I think it ended up doing to quite an extent. On Well Done Europe, we allowed ourselves to be a bit warmer or - dare I say it - heartfelt with it.” Heartfelt? Weirdly, Well Done Europe sounds less sardonic and as if it's striving to capture some delightful melodic suss the band have hitherto thrown to the wind.
“When we start trying to make an idea into a song, we often go through a long process of rejection of ideas until we find a concept we want to go with. In the old days, these concepts usually consisted of trying to subvert the traditional pop song format by recording stuff really badly and trying to think of the least likely reference to juxtapose the initial recording with. These days, the subversion seems to stem more from the realisation that we have become characterised as this lo fi weirdo underground group and are consequently trying to make everything sound as slick as our budget home studio set-up allows. But in a slightly wrong and unsettling way.” The Chap seem concerned with deconstruction. Even Your Friend, for instance, has a typically deadpan female vocal, some innocuous warped sounds in the background and a steady beat. This soon gets co-opted by huge sampled choral crescendos, twisted, muffled voices, an almost freeform bassline before it all collides into a choppy, anthemic chorus. It's bewildering and brilliant. The amount of throwaway innovation is reminiscent of the approach recently reformed 90s eccentrics Pavement had, unafraid to plunge songs into gallons of awkward ideas.
It's extremely difficult to divide The Chap's musical direction from their consistently intriguing and hilarious lyrical stance. This is without mentioning the pop culture references such as the snippet of Dancing In The Dark by Springsteen in Well Done You. Consider this gem: 'Well done you, you've really really got the hang of it/that's excellent stuff there..../we're really glad to have you with us/I know you were struggling at first/but soon you tackled it head on/and that was quite a feat considering..' Somehow the languishing and deadpan delivery of the vocals seems to overlap with the slick, ambiguous feel and texture of the music. “As with the musical content, we try to come up with something unusual. We will sometimes come up with a concept or just write down phrases which spring to mind by free association. The lyrics are very important, but not necessarily in a way of a particular meaning. That said, more recently, we have started writing songs which actually have an easily indentifiable meaning, like We Work In Bars or Chalet Chalet.”
This patchwork approach goes hand in hand with their similarly sewn musical ouvre. The result is that The Chap's output is distinctive and a refreshing dunk into the oft murky waters of independently weaved pop music. Legendary sonic crackpot Frank Zappa once asked whether humour belongs in music – naturally he had already answered yes to his own question – and it seems ludicrous, in light of bands such as The Chap, that such a question need be asked.
“After making quite a conscious decision to have almost only straight forward song structures on Well Done Europe, we are planning to come back soon with a classic chap style album… I think we’ve just about had it with trying to be Fleetwood Mac all the time! ‘Cause we’re not!” They may not be Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, but to deny them their little niche for not following the accepted rules – including striving for hooks in places where most fear to tread, perhaps because they might appear less serious and committed – would not only be unfair but actually extremely short sighted.

Brad Barrett