Not every band has to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes realizing that the wheel is pretty darn swell as is and making it your own is good enough. The Chicago-via-Minneapolis outfit Project Film, despite a diverse biography that includes writing bedroom instrumentals for films not yet made, play the kind of sad and twee indie rock that bands like Seam or, more recently, the Postal Service specialized in. One can easily imagine their debut Chicago coming from the speakers of a Jetta circa ’94 or from a Jetta commercial circa ’01. On a rainy day such as this one, it should sound just about right emanating from the household stereo.

Innocence is a word that keeps popping into my head as Chicago spins along in the CD machine. There’s an innocence in the clean strumming of the guitar and the male and female vocals of Sam McAllister and Megan Frestedt. There’s an innocence in song titles like “Art School” and “Cool Kids” as well as the simple innocence of name dropping both Minneapolis and Chicago. The bah-duh’s of “Motionless” and la la’s of “Cool Kids” are incorporated effortlessly without sounding saccharine sweet while keyboards accentuate Project Film’s indie pop without feeling as if they want the listener to feel how modernly retro they are by accenting songs with keyboards. It all sounds so easy that it can’t come from any place but an innocent one.

Most of Chicago sits neatly in the mid-tempo pocket that, depending on your mood, makes you want to clap your hands or hold your face and stare out the window. Oh, indie rock. I often found my old “pop” mix tapes were met with a resounding “It’s ok but why so depressing?” That was the beauty of pop music; that it could sound so pretty yet depressing at the same time. Project Film definitely fit this definition. A song like album closer “Sun” with its acoustic guitar and hushed vocals is so delicate it must be pretty, right? But delicate also means it’s so easily broken. You say tomato, and I say, well, tomato too. That works less well in print, but you get the point.

What stands out on Chicago? Well, the by comparison bursting with energy of “Motionless” has single written all over it, especially if this were 1994. The little acoustic ditty “Kapture” is reminiscent of In Tall Buildings, and the instrumental “Ink” shows that if Project Film had decided to stay in the basement writing soundtracks looking for films that might have been pretty interesting as well. At least we can picture the montage the music would be playing over. Yes, it probably involves some reflection, some “Where did it all go wrong?”, a little recognition of past mistakes and ends at the front door or that certain someone. Is Michael Cera involved? Perhaps.

Project Film’s Chicago is a nice little addition to our city’s musical landscape. It may share more in common with the Chicago scene of days gone by, but there’s not a thing wrong with that. No matter how old you get or what twists and turns your musical tastes may make, you can’t shake that ambiguous feeling that good, low key indie pop emits, can you? It’s the same feeling you get every fall in Chicago. See how it all comes together?

Project Film -- “Ink”