Make Believe - "Going to the Bone Church"

Make Believe - "Wearin' Torn" (Flameshovel 2008)

Make Believe – Going to the Bone Church / Flameshovel

In 1965, when Mick Jagger declared "I can't get no satisfaction / 'cause I try and I try and I try and I try", it encompassed the voice of a generation. As the years tolled on, and the Stones' tours (and ages) have reached the triple digits, the once inspiring song has evolved into a staple of the dive bar where the satisfaction not being reached is more sexual frustration than anything. But I think Jagger envisioned more with his statement. His snarling delivery resides somewhere between commentary and biting sarcasm; it encompasses the insatiable appetites (for wealth, notoriety, sex, etc) of modern life, and perhaps – as the length of the Stones' discography might imply – his creative endeavors. When Make Believe frontman Tim Kinsella aches "I can't understand satisfaction" in the waning moments of Going to the Bone Church, I hear the same frustration. We're now living a post-modern life though, and Kinsella rightfully re-evaluates even the notion of satisfaction. It's a telling thought from one of Chicago's most idiosyncratic and prolific songwriters, and the reason why this album was not supposed to exist.

On July 1st, 2007, Make Believe opened for Tortoise at the Metro; it was supposed to be their final show. According to Flameshovel, Kinsella was frustrated and unsatisfied with his position in the group as solely the lyricist/singer, though there is no room for any more musical additions to Make Believe’s sound without completely re-establishing themselves in a new guise. This is understandable, because while Kinsella personifies the group to an extent with his abstract commentaries, unmistakable raspy yelp and confrontational stage presence, the real distinction between Make Believe and hundreds of other contemporary underground rock bands is their rhythm section. Drummer/keyboardist Nate Kinsella and bassist Bobby Burg piece together rather catchy grooves, but then proceed to drop every third or fourth bar. So instead of grooving straight ahead, songs awkwardly shift and stutter creating even more intriguing rhythms for Sam Zurick’s already abstract approach to crunchy guitar melodies and Tim’s obtuse phrasing.

After courting a number of suitors for the frontman position, Tim rejoined the group with a less-is-more attitude; perhaps not as much trying to force satisfaction, but taking a step back to attempt to understand just what it means to be satisfied. The refreshed line-up spent six days recording at Chicago’s Electrical Audio studio and is set to release Going to the Bone Church – their third full-length – at the end of April, but only available in vinyl format.

This new record is a continuation of the band’s increasingly mellowed sound. The elements and instrumentation remain the same, but with a calmed clarity in both production and performance. Nate’s drum and Wurlitzer rhythms are not as much a tool of urgency as a grounding force to Zurick’s short elliptical guitar phrases. There are still tracks of disjointed paranoia – like that of opener “Ooo-Yum” with multi-tracked yelps and calls between jerky post-punk outbursts – but mid-tempo jaunts like “Sam Rollerskating Backwards” and the rather melodic “Wearin’ Torn” are much more prevalent and in that manner, affecting.

Make Believe was originally intended as the more aggressive outlet for the Joan of Arc touring members. They achieved this with their excellent self-titled debut EP and their first full-length, Shock of Being. Going to the Bone Church is created with the exact same tools (guitar, bass, drums, wurlitzer, vocals) and approach to songwriting (you could almost call it post-post-punk), but resounds of maturity because of its patience and lack of purely punk-derived chaos. These are finely pieced together songs – however jagged the final product may be – with a number of rather affectionate moments. For example, the band reveals their playfulness for the first time as Tim concludes a spoken-word rant at the end of the title track. Instead of masking it in serious artfulness, they leave the tape rolling as he breaks out into a silly sing-song which causes the entire band to erupt in laughter. Because what’s more satisfying than having fun at what you enjoy to do?