De-globalization is the new black: Eat local, drink local, ride local. How about listen local? Enter YAWN, the first hometown heroes to appear in this Lolla prep post-a-ganza. These relative newcomers stomp the ground around Wicker Park, so they won’t have to travel quite so far to make their Sunday spot at the festival.
The YAWN yarn has the group’s origins dating back to 2007, though things didn’t really get yawning until 2010, when they released a self-titled, five-track EP and blew the doors off a showcase at Austin’s South by Southwest festival in 2010.
This successful doors-blowing landed them exposure in Pitchfork, NME and other fine musical word-spreading media. They proceeded to issue EPs Open Season in 2011 and Happy Tears (available for free on their website!) in 2012. They were yawn their way.
But yawn just a minute; what about the Yawn sound? Theirs is a pop potpourri, a veritable endless stream of “Man, that reminds me of” propelled by close resemblance to the multi-layered and sample-laden electronic stylings of Yeasayer, Brian Eno, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, etc etc. And that's not a bad thing.
Someyawn, they do emerge from the proverbial pile, however. There’s a lightness, a playfulness, an uber-rhythmic yawnness to their tracks that sets them apart. Clearly, the quality is difficult to nail down.
But what also stands out is the wide variety of sounds they produce across their brief discography. They’re experimenting, changing, evolving -- enough to keep things interesting, not so much as to confuse the listener. They’re being, dare I yawn it, artistic.
One explanation for their diversity is -- homer alert! -- the Chicago climate. In an interview with online music journal Pop’stache, the guys joke that the abrupt and drastic seasonal changes in the City that Works inspire them to follow suit in their music-making. Yawn!
The YAWN yarn has the group’s origins dating back to 2007, though things didn’t really get yawning until 2010, when they released a self-titled, five-track EP and blew the doors off a showcase at Austin’s South by Southwest festival in 2010.
This successful doors-blowing landed them exposure in Pitchfork, NME and other fine musical word-spreading media. They proceeded to issue EPs Open Season in 2011 and Happy Tears (available for free on their website!) in 2012. They were yawn their way.
But yawn just a minute; what about the Yawn sound? Theirs is a pop potpourri, a veritable endless stream of “Man, that reminds me of” propelled by close resemblance to the multi-layered and sample-laden electronic stylings of Yeasayer, Brian Eno, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, etc etc. And that's not a bad thing.
Someyawn, they do emerge from the proverbial pile, however. There’s a lightness, a playfulness, an uber-rhythmic yawnness to their tracks that sets them apart. Clearly, the quality is difficult to nail down.
But what also stands out is the wide variety of sounds they produce across their brief discography. They’re experimenting, changing, evolving -- enough to keep things interesting, not so much as to confuse the listener. They’re being, dare I yawn it, artistic.
One explanation for their diversity is -- homer alert! -- the Chicago climate. In an interview with online music journal Pop’stache, the guys joke that the abrupt and drastic seasonal changes in the City that Works inspire them to follow suit in their music-making. Yawn!
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