Music
Press
With self-proclaimed influences as widespread as U2, Sunny Day Real Estate and Jeff Buckley, The City Lives' debut full-length is surprisingly congealed. Particularly for a debut, American Kids has all the solidity of some of the best pop-rock albums in the last decade. The key elements are here – love and heartbreak, addiction and loss – and the lines are sung and played with an endearing honesty. The album has moments that come treacherously close to guilty pleasures (Ah, the dangers of acoustic ballads!), but they are saved by Kerby's unambiguous melodies and little touches like quiet piano lines, echoing percussion.
–Becky Carmen
- Boyd Street 11/14/07
'Debut' may not be the most accurate word to describe American Kids. The album, while the first real offering from OKC's The City Lives, is years in the making. Comprised of a smattering of local band veterans (Josh, Eric, Craig and Shaun) and fronted by Chase Kerby (formerly of Chasing Paris), The City Lives' mission is clear: to win you over, whatever it takes.
Enter the deliciously-produced American Kids a collection of 11 rock tracks with a definite pop bent - some are unabashedly catchy and harmless, others are poignant and sharp. Perhaps The City Lives are the hopeful spearheads of a resurgence of straightforward rock bands (think Jimmy Eat World), not the necessarily defying genre stereotypes but accepting and then overlooking them (think All-American Rejects).
The first track 'Bad Enough' exemplifies how Kerby's charisma as a frontman and clarity as a vocalist can bring a song from being merely good to being an ideal album opener. 'Alcohol and Ambrosia' even with its ambitious falsetto interludes, is one of the best on the album. Kerby is a gifted songwriter alone, and in The City Lives, he's more than complimented by a group of equally talented musicians.
Experienced though they may be, here's hoping The City Lives are willing to bank on their youthfulness. In 'Missing the Point,' Kerby hovers dangerously close to sounding trite with lines like 'Everything makes sense when you're in love with alcohol,' but the honesty is endearing, the delivery sincere and the end result satisfying. All in all, American Kids is a tasty pop gem.
- NONzine
In the pre-performance interview, Norman, Oklahoma...
In the pre-performance interview, Norman, Oklahoma’s Chase Kerby lets it slip that it hasn’t even been 24 hours since he began writing the verses to the untitled song he’ll perform tonight. He’s had the chorus hanging around in his head for a while he says, but the inspiration needed to flush the tune out came to him last night while sitting near the moonlit swimming pool of a house he was sitting.
You might be tempted to doubt the truth of a claim like that, especially when he launches effortlessly into the bubbly arpeggiations of its lilting intro like a seasoned pro, but it’s hard to keep doubting, or to feel anything cynical at all, once you hear the plain beauty of his tenor. There’s a brassiness in his croon, like a Rufus Wainwright or Devendra Banhart, only without the affectation.
Kerby doesn’t dress the performance up. It’s too fresh, too new to him for him to need to. He simply revels in the joy of his new creation, and seems happy to let others watch, even if he’s only playing for himself. As he soldiers through a near-flawless rendition, the room’s boomy acoustics cradle the fragile tune in a safe warmth, muting any ragged ends or flubbed notes that might have existed.
‘Cause I have been told/nothing changes when you get old/love is just a rumor that holds you to your word,’ he sings with a complete, but unemphasized conviction. Someone as concerned with big-picture ideas like aging and fidelity as Kerby’s lyrics suggest must be all to familiar with the way the truth of a song seeps out the more you sing it. So it makes you feel fortunate, and even a little bit guilty, to look on as he comes face to face with his own melodies, communing with them for the first time.
- Songpull.com
Discography
The Cards EP (The City Lives)
American Kids (The City Lives)
Happiness is Magic (in production)
The Outsider Sessions (The City Lives, in production)
Photos
Bio
My name is Chase Duncan Kerby. I was born December 27th, 1984 to loving parents Joe and Teresa. As a child I had a vivid imagination and always felt like an outsider even in times that I truly wasn't. I was pushed and haunted by the belief that there was something always bigger planned for my life than the mundane, trivial, day to day routine I was in. At age 14 I began writing songs with my older brother Jeremy. He was a natural at guitar and is a very gifted songwriter. A year later I picked up a guitar myself and became obsessed with the concept of songs. The emotion that could be portrayed, the atmosphere that could be shaped, and the ability to move people with sounds and words. Writing has become such an outlet for me that sometimes I feel like it alienates me from the people and things that I love. I used to play in a band called Chasing Paris several years back. It was a platform for some of the most amazing learning experiences I have had to date. Shortly after parting ways with Chasing Paris I moved to Nashville to clear my head and discover things in myself that I didn't know existed. In doing so I have loved and lost love, I have lived too little and have lived too much, and I have laughed out loud and shed endless amounts of tears. Often I struggle with self discovery, all the while knowing that knowledge cannot be found but gained. I write strictly about the things that have affected me the most and continue to do so. Honesty is my best policy although sometimes it's hard to get out. I care very much so for my family and the people I love. Sometimes it seems like the fight to make it isn't worth it, but I think about how every inch of my body has hurt or ached because of the literal blood, sweat , and tears I have poured into music. I have made many mistakes in my life and live with those mistakes everyday, but I have done great things and that's what keeps me going.
For the past two years I have been the frontman of The City Lives. We have toured with the All American Rejects and are signed to Edmond records. (Owned by Mike and Tyson of the Rejects) We are currently writing for our next record. The guys in my band are like brothers to me and letting them or anyone else that I love down is something that bothers me very much.
I have strange dreams sometimes about very sad images. These dreams teach me lessons that I couldn't learn in reality. I have hope in the future and in love, I will never let that go even when it seems like all is lost. Forgiveness is a practice for me, loving is a privilege, and affecting others is a gift. I hope that when you hear my songs, whether The City Lives or my solo project, you will take something from them. That is my bio and all a person needs to know about me.
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