It would be a surprise if Chicago’s own California Wives are still unsigned in the near future. Coming off of an impressive set at the Wicker Park festival this summer, the band’s new five song EP, Affair, is subtle yet catchy. It’s the kind of EP you listen to eight times in a row, not for a specific song, or a particular verse. It’s because all five songs are just well done.

The local quartet comprising of Joe O’Connor (drums), Hans Michel (guitar, keys), Dan Zima (vocals, bass, guitar), and Jayson Kramer (vocals, keys, guitar) are making waves in the Second City. The EP is crafted in their own way, stressed with synthetic keystrokes and hazy lyrics, and the listener almost addictively, absentmindedly bobs along.

It’s a giant smorgasbord of sound; some songs pull from The Cure, some The xx, some like their song “Twenty Three” sound like a softer Smashing Pumpkins jam. It’s the kind of song you wish you could always listen to through headphones, just completely immersed in it, without distractions.

The EP immediately shows its colors with a strong opening, “Blood Red Youth”. Its simple, cyclical lyrics yield to the higher concentration of blended guitar solos and drums kicks. This band doesn’t build songs in the typical format of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. Instead, California Wives’ paradigm tends to be more repetitious in nature, lining a small handful of lyrics to a punctuated beat over the course of a five-minute song.

This redefined style, this inventiveness, is a large part of their appeal and uniqueness. A perfect example would be their closing song “Photolights”, which comes in with a 1:42 musical intro, and ends with a 1:24 outro, but still manages to have minimal lyrics in between.

Affair is a well-rounded, thoughtful EP, which leaves the audience yearning for a longer, full-length CD. But for now, we’ll have to settle with the five songs as a little taste of what is hopefully yet to come.

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Catch California Wives on Friday, September 3, at Schubas for an official North Coast Festival Aftershow and Record Release Party. Tickets are available right now at Schubas.com for $5 or Free is your have a North Coast Fest wristband.
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California Wives -- “Twenty Three”