Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

If you’re at all familiar with Grand Theft Auto IV (i.e. the commercial), you may have heard a bombastic bass line with the lyrics “I came a long way to see you / now I wish you were dead”.  Put aside the dark imagery, because this song was made for GTA IV and essentially sums up the plot line of the video game.  Niko, a Serbian, is convinced by his brother to come to America for unfathomable riches and women.  Niko soon finds out that it was all a lie and that he is a pawn in his brother’s schemes in America.   And so, Chicago natives Greenskeepers aptly sing “another lookout for the amber waves of grain / green lady moved away and changed her name”.  Really wonderful song, through and through.

Purchase Greenskeepers’ most recent album Polo Club.  See CSV’s review here.

Greenskeepers - “Vagabond” (5/5)

The next few posts are going to be dedicated to Chicago-based artists and bands. Being that I’m from Chicago, and I’m going to school near the city, I thought I should let you faithful readers (and those who get here from elbo.ws) know a little bit about the best indie music scene in the country (sorry Seattle, it’s true).

So for today, I’m going to talk about an up-and-coming electro-pop-rock Chicago band that goes by the name Greenskeepers. Aside from incredibly pleasing artwork for their albums and such, there is actually substance to this band. Every time I listen to the music from their latest release Polo Club, I keep on trying to box it in to a genre or a sound. I’ll be honest–I haven’t figured it out quite yet. It’s a little bit like Depeche Mode, but more interesting. It’s a little bit like lounge music, but more varying and certainly better lyrics. Greenskeepers take rather dark subjects and just turn the light on. It almost reminds of the way Nick Drake used to write such beautiful music for darker songs.

What I find the most intriguing about Greenskeepers is that their music takes everything good about trippy electronic grooves and melds them with some above average lyrics. Granted, there are a few instrumentals on Polo Club, like the infectious “Martini Lunches” or “Coconuts”. Both surround in a wall of sound that envelopes you, caresses you, and then rocks with you all night long. Some might call it “mood music”, but I think it’s nothing of the sort. Take a listen to “15 Minutes” and you’ll realize your head’s bopping to the catchy bass while you can help but chime in with the words, ‘Last Night, Last Saturday Night’.

I suggest you have a look at their album, Polo Club.
Not convinced?
Have a listen to “15 Minutes“
Have a listen to “Bloodclots“