Chief
Barfly, London
14/07/2010

Given the number of mighty tribes of indie ‘uns that have affixed their names to the label’s dotted line, it’s not exactly surprising that the latest Domino players are attracting such a significant amount of interest. Yet while many of their cohorts positively bristle with an exploratory brio, Chief are a tad more trad – so much so, in fact, that our initial impression is one of fear that The Cult and a time-travelling Kings Of Leon are going to storm the stage at any minute and demand their hats and hair back.

But, as Teenage Fanclub and Travis have both been comfortably demonstrating for a generation or two now, there’s really no need to embark on too much in the way of wheel reinvention if you can bumble by on sufficient reserves of bonhomie, and that’s very much the abiding philosophy here. Consequently, while ‘Modern Rituals’ may be something of a bumpy debut, all too often replacing the verve of its finest moments with echoes of The Verve at their most coasting, it takes on a likeable life of its own in these circumstances, and the preponderance of even newer material is satisfyingly promising.

Plus, frontman Evan Koga may have a touch of the Dylans about him, but there’s a compelling, incantational feel to his performance, while guitarist Danny Fujikawa is, if anything, more striking still, his vocals a pillowy bruise that tenderly recalls Mark Kozelek, and their harmonies manage to be complex and confiding simultaneously. And, while there’s often a Steady Foxes stately folksiness hovering over proceedings, ‘Night And Day’ has a storm-the-barricades, stuttering loveliness to it, ‘Stealing’ erupts into a shimmering guitar typhoon, and the gloriously world-weary ‘This Land’ positively soars in a fashion akin to an early Doves out-take, ensuring that there’s enough warmth and wonder here to override even the most resolute of reservations.     

Iain Moffat