“Playing With Fire,” from Chaser Eight’s latest album Tell Me Lies, strikes its first match with a rock ‘n’ roll riff at its most elemental. It’s a call that the bass and drums respond to. Together they make a expansive rhythm, the kind of thing that makes people nod their heads. Then there’s a voice through a bullhorn, piercing through the distortion. “If I’m playing with fire, there’s a fire playing with me,” she sings.
Chaser Eight has been a prolific band; Tell Me Lies is the New Haven-based group’s eighth album since 2013 and its second this year, after Floating in Outer Space. Over the course of its recorded career, the band has developed a pretty expansive sound, from stripped-down acoustic, almost country-tinged songs to full-on blasts of rock ‘n’ roll, taking some interesting excursions into other musical territory along the way as well. At the heart of the band is Audra Tagliamonte and Pat Walsh, on vocals and guitars. They met in grade school and began playing together. They started Chaser Eight in 2012 as a duo and expanded to a full band. Years of gigs and recordings resulting of the band snagging a few awards from regional magazines and opening for national touring acts. Then their rhythm section left. Tagliamonte and Walsh set about finding new members, and did — in Brennan DiLernia on bass, Eliav Nachmani on drums, and Jess Wolfer on backing vocals.
The changing in membership suggests a new direction for the band, and a refreshed energy that’s captured on Tell Me Lies. But it also feels like a return to first principles. “Got It Alone” starts bass and guitar churning out one note, the drums pounding out a spacious beat, only to have the music suddenly accelerate and get knottier in the chorus. “The Bell Jar” gets heavy as it layers on the guitar textures. “Sinners and Saints” has that rock ‘n’ roll strut. “Who Shot Who,” the album’s closer finds the band at its sludgiest and rawest, taking the album out on a note of triumphant defiance.
The band’s sonic variety is possible, though, because it has in Tagliamonte a powerful voice that can withstand whatever the band throws at it. She has a whisper that can still cut, and a full-throated caterwaul that can rise over the loudest guitars. Tagliamonte and Wolfer together put the chorus into Chaser Eight’s choruses; even among the distorted guitar tones and unleashed drums, their voices are strong and harmonious. They find the beauty in the crunch.
Find Chaser Eight’s albums on Bandcamp or on the band’s website.
