It’s always a pleasant surprise when you have no plans on a Saturday and you get invited out to a show last minute. Friday afternoon I was quickly introduced to Chicago’s sextet Scattered Trees. Their recently-released LP Sympathy was quickly added to my iTunes and I was all set.
Scattered Trees draws comparison to other Southern-tinged indie rock bands, leaning towards Wilco with hints of The Fray meets Snow Patrol. Their set was driven by the beautiful electric guitar melodies, layered with piano, percussion, and four vocalists. Their sound was tight and the tone was somber. It was only after seeing their set did I realize that the songs from Sympathy were written by lead singer Nate Eiseland in response to his father’s death. The songs held a certain sad beauty that captured this sentiment.
That being said, I felt like the band was lacking a certain luster. For as many musicians were in the band, I expected the show to be more dynamic and intricate and the harmonies to be more prominent. While I found the songs to be well-written and certainly on point with the trend in indie rock, the energy and spark was a bit lacking. Although they have been playing together for many years, I see Sympathy as a step in the right direction, in preparation for something hopefully bigger and better.
MP3: “Four Days Straight”
[audio:http://addicted2shows.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/04-Four-Days-Straight-2.mp3|titles=Four Days Straight]
