The Chaperones – ‘Jacqueline’ (mp3)
It’s an apt time to post about two-piece garage rockers The Chaperones because we’re smack bang in the middle of their month-long residency in the darkened interior of The Excelsior Hotel in Sydney’s Surry Hills where they’re playing every Wednesday night.
The Chaperones are the girl-boy combination of the rather cute drummer Marissa Gillies (I’m not sure if she’s in any way related to Silverchair’s stickman Ben Gillies) and frontman Matt Vince (the girls will have to decide whether he’s cute or not… sorry Matt!) and, like a number of bands in this post White Stripes world, they’ve deemed a bass player unnecessary. To me, not having a bass player is a cardinal sin because there’s a whole frequency range missing and unless you build a custom guitar/bass like Local H’s Scott Lucas or have someone playing droning low-octave keys a la The Red Sun Band, you’re never going to actually hide the fact you’re missing a bass player.
This duo plays with plenty of panache and energy and have some really lo-fi, groovy tunes. Overdriven guitars and solid drum patterns give The Chaperones that indie/garage aesthetic and their debut EP has been garnering some healthy reviews. Still, a bass player would be nice…
http://www.thechaperones.com.au
http://www.myspace.com/chaperones
October 21, 2007 4:56 pm
Nice song!
I was listening to it and I actually imagined how the bass-line would go if they had one.
I’m not sure if the fact that I could imagine it just reinforces their choice not to have one or makes it necessary though.
October 23, 2007 6:58 pm
Wow, that song is cool!
Might have to head on down to the X and see me some chaperones akshun!
I dont think they need a bass player…. perhaps they want to show off the songs as opposed to keeping the masses happy?