[music] Ivory Wire

On the surface, Ivory Wire is just former Columbia Records artist Dovetail Joint with new drummer Henry Jansen. But while it sounds cliche to say this, the band seems to have picked up a new attitude as well. I don't know if it was the experience of being chewed up and spit out by the major label machine or what, but frontman Chuck Gladfelter seems to be having a lot more fun this time around, and the results are noticeable, particularly live. Perhaps one of the biggest drawbacks to the Joint was that Chuck always seemed so damned serious, and seeing him jump around and smile onstage, albeit still not nearly as much as lead guitarist Rob Byrne, is refreshing.

The music isn't too far afield of the band's previous incarnation, but with a bit more focus on songwriting hooks. Singalong choruses fly over a mix of hard riffs and big, spacious, U2-esque anthems. This puts them squarely in what seems to be a burdgeoning movement of what I'd call "hard pop" in Chicago, loosely defined as the space between straight-up hard rock, the melodic drive of stoner rock, and maybe the plaintive lyrical core of emo. It's an interesting emerging sound, and I'm curious to see if it can take root.