“Wandering Song” is the centerpiece of Chime School’s new album The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel. Bandleader Andy Pastalaniec says: “Musically the inspiration was ‘what if East Village had written (Teenage Fanclub’s) “Sparky’s Dream,” and there’s some musical nods to the former and rhythmic nods to the latter throughout.”
Indeed, it’s a master exhibition of melody-steeped and propulsive jangle-tastic power-pop, as timeless as it is immediate and a perfect tune for Summer 2024.
Lyrically the song is about the energy we expend distracting ourselves from the crises unfolding around the world; how we tend to turn inwards when our only chance to survive them is through collective organizing. After finishing the album, Pastalaniec read Naomi Klein’s latest book, Doppelganger. Once again, he found his thoughts echoed in a formative influence—this time on his politics.
“In her chapter about social media she talks about our ‘digital golems,’ and articulates some of what I was trying to get at far better than I could,” he says. When he repeats the mantra-like lyrics “nothing’s wrong / when you’re moving too slow,” this sounds like a teachable moment for all of us. Yet Pastalaniec is patient and compassionate, welcoming everyone to change with chiming pop.
With his 2021 self-titled debut, Andy Pastalaniec’s Chime School became one of the defining acts of the seemingly never-ending, prolific and multifaceted Bay Area pop scene. Slumberland Records is thrilled to announce his second LP, The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel, is set for release on August 23.
Recorded by Pastalaniec himself, in his home studio on the foggy southern edge of San Francisco, Paisley Hotel sets a moodier tone; slowed and patiently unfolding in moments that highlight an evolution in songcraft, production and arrangement–while still bouncing along with the jangling drive Chime School fans have come to adore.
As its title implies, 30-plus years of UK indie pop’s deeper cuts are voraciously mined and refined on the 11-song release that fans of East Village, later Teenage Fanclub, and maybe even Northern Picture Library’s Alaska will devour.
But these songs are also very much rooted in the Bay Area of 2024, boasting both lyrical gestures to gentrification’s destruction, beloved shuttered bars and theaters, as well as a songwriting collaboration with SF native Mike Ramos’ of Tony Jay/Flowertown fame, on the album’s penultimate song.
Cheekily-named opener, “The End,” starts with a strum of acoustic guitars, before bursting into Chime School’s characteristic 12-string jangle, then veering off into melancholy mid-tempo pop that East Village’s Kelly brothers should be proud to have influenced.
“Give Your Heart Away” shows off Pastalaniec’s evolution as a songwriter, gracefully moving beyond the confines of beloved records that have come before, and then stepping out and making his own.
Standout track “Wandering Song,” shares that same innovation, even as you hear a whisper of Gerry Love’s finest moments swirling beneath.
As the final atmospherics of Paisley Hotel’s closer “Points of Light” fade and you inevitably turn the record over for another listen, it’s likely you’ll hear both subtle references you didn’t hear before, and also be left with a sense for this musician; how the journey of writing, arranging and recording each record elevates him to a new, fresh place you’ll want to follow, where we all hope Chime School keeps going.
Music video credits:
Cinematography by Kittie Krivacic & Andy Pastalaniec
Edited by Andy Pastalaniec
Press photo by Andy Pastalaniec
TOUR DATES:
USA:
Jul 15 – San Francisco, CA at Rickshaw Stop w/ Ducks Ltd, Mo Dotti
Aug 23 – San Francisco, CA – Record Release show! at The Makeout Room w/ Hits, Telephone Numbers
Aug 24 – Los Angeles, CA – Permanent Records Roadhouse w/ Le Pain, Nic Hessler, Telephone Numbers
Aug 25 – Carlsbad, CA – GONZO! Ramen w/ Telephone Numbers
France & UK:
Sept 27 – Paris Pop Fest, France w/ The Orchids, Would-be-Goods, Les Freluquets
Sept 28 – Cambridge, at NCI Centre
Sept 29 – London, at The Victoria
Sept 30 – Nottingham, at JT Soar
Oct 1 – York, at The Fulford Arms
Oct 2 – Manchester, at Gullivers w/ Autocamper
Oct 3 – Glasgow, at Mono w/ US Highball, The Cords
Oct 4 – Halifax, at The Grayston Unity
Oct 5 – Liverpool, at District
Oct 6 – Coventry, at Just Dropped in Records w/ Lande Hekt
Oct 7 – Bristol, at The Cube w/ Lande Hekt, Silk Cuts
