Detachment Kit
They Raging. Quiet Army

They could be the little brothers of Les Savy Fav. Or perhaps distant cousins of Pavement.

The Detachment Kit (sometimes sporting a "The" as a prefix: sometimes there, sometimes not) are a quartet born in Chicago, yet seemingly having little to do with the post-rock and no wave scene typical of the world's windy capital. "They Raging. Quiet Army," their debut album, was released in 2001 by the New York-based Self-Starter Foundation, who announced them as "one of the rare worthwhile bands from Chicago." Someone recommended them to me a couple of years ago when I was desperately searching for something new to listen to. "Let's give them a try," I thought. And it was love at first listen.

High Seas: a somewhat jaunty start, a bit like Pavement but less off-key. The atmosphere then becomes darker. I imagine the leaden sky (which wasn't leaden at all) of that distant November 22, 1963, in Dallas. The calm and the triumph shattered by a shot. 11.22.63 could be the soundtrack of that film footage that went around the world. The atmosphere changes again, becoming emo but not too much. Engaging rides (Hurricane Designed For People), cultured references (The Euphio Question takes its title from a short story by Vonnegut), and soft, dreamy ballads (Never Hear Your Words) follow one another.

A varied album that keeps interest alive from the first to the last piece. They enthuse with absurd energy and class: like a glass of Tullamore Dew with popping candy inside. An excellent debut album that will be followed in 2004 by a worthy successor, Of This Blood. Maybe one day I'll talk to you about it...