The Dutch Elms

It's good news to see that Chris "Indiepages" McFarlane has resurrected his Jigsaw label and the 1st release in a few years is by this fantastic Seattle 4-piece (members have done time in Slomo Rabbit Kick, The Revolutionary Hydra, Nana Bao, etc.). Things start off a screamin' with the upbeat "Cleopatra' and only goes up from there as these 11 songs, like many bands these days, have a whole heap of Beach Boys-isms but these catchy pop tunes are good (something that can't be said for lots of other bands). The band keeps it basically simple with the usual guitar/bass/drums/vocals and add some tasteful keyboards and yeah, what more do I need to say? If you like good, upbeat, catchy pop then buy this pronto! - Dagger

Music For Happiness's inside sleeve is a mock music test on the old reliable C Major Scale, free from any extraneous sharps or flats. That, in conjunction with the album title, tells you basically all you need to know about the Dutch Elms. This is quick, immediately rewarding melodic music with little in the way of experimentation or modern trappings.

Sometimes this is a bad thing. With the Dutch Elms, it's not. First and foremost, good songs are what matter, and Music For Happiness is loaded with them, starting with opener "Cleopatra". Listen to it once and try to get it out of your head. The band's multiple vocalists sing "6-5-3-5 Cleopatra" in harmony, along with other lovely nonsense.

Jay Chilcote, Terry Picknell and Brian Willett all write and back each other's songs with simplistic rhythms and guitars and well-used organ. With keyboardist Anne Lange chiming in on backup vocals (though sadly she never takes lead vocals for a Mo Tucker-style song), the Dutch Elms sound a little like Belle and Sebastian with fewer members. They touch on many of the same influences of those indie-pop mainstays, including the Kinks and the Beach Boys, but stripping away the extraneous instrumentation gives songs like the bouncy "Died in a Lake" a welcome immediacy.

Occasionally, the band tries to imbue some depth into their light-hearted ways, such as with the surging organs of "Knickers in a Twist", which recalls Stereolab at their most accessible. Lyrics like "it is a proto Animal Farm, without the politics and half the charm" make it irresistible. "Yesterday's Coffee" turns unexpectedly wistful as one of the boys sings about "when everything loses its flavor" over sad chord changes. Music For Happiness occasionally goes against its title by throwing in lines like "all the things I like are things that aren't well-paid" in the post-grad lament "Doctoral Dissipation", but there's no heavy-handedness to get you down; they add, "'cause what we really want's a lifetime holiday."

What you won't get with the Dutch Elms is originality. But if you're bummed about the last Belle and Sebastian or New Pornographers albums not being up to snuff, Music For Happiness is a terrific quick-fix for carefree-pop cravings.

--Splendid, Jan. '05 - Splendid E-Zine

The Dutch Elms are taking cues from bands like Belle and Sebastian, The Kinks, and the Rentals. They craft a special blend of pop-rock that is comfortably familiar to the ear yet engaging enough to have you hitting the repeat button, to sing along with. All of the Dutch Elm trees on my campus were abruptly cut down before students returned before my senior year. This saddened me; this disc however, didn't make me sad.

--Crooked Camera, Jan. '05
- Crooked Camera

Jigsaw Records is a nice little record label run by Chris McFarlane of Indiepages.com fame and, after putting out fine records by the likes of Boyracer, The Poconos, and Chris' own project, Suretoss, the label went into hibernation for a couple of years. well, a quick yawn and stretch later and Jigsaw is wide awake and eagerly back at it again with another shiny release - this time, by new Seattle-based band, The Dutch Elms.

The Dutch Elms' very first release is a CD called Music For Happiness, and boy, they aren't kidding! What you get is eleven up-beat pop songs that mostly clock in the two minute range, most of them invoking the sound of sunny, 60's-styled California pop bands and 70's AM radio. Strange, considering they hail from the rainy Pacific Northwest! Then again, who better to do some California dreamin'? Brian Willett, Terry Picknell, Anna Lange, and Jay Chilcote (of The Revolutionary Hydra and Slomo Rabbit Kick) make up this four-piece. They juggle instrumental duties (consisting of the basic drums, guitar, bass, and keyboard set-up), take turns on lead vocals, and skillfully harmonize like nobody's business. The rich harmonies and backing vocals totally call to mind the vocal stylings of The Beach Boys, The Association, and even The Mamas and Papas. "Doctoral Dissipation" has a shagadelic acid-rock bass line that'll have you go-go dancing like you were in a guilded cage; "Yesterday's Coffee" starts off sounding like The Turtles' "Happy Together", with it's helium-high vocals and jaunty rhythm, before slipping into languid Beach Boys-style harmonizing mid-way through; and "Amelia Airheart" begins by sounding like The Monkees' "Steppin' Stone" slowed down a bit. Not every song reminds you of 60's pop, though. The super sunny "Cleopatra" is like a soft-focus version of a Honeyrider or California Oranges song. The carnival-like "Knickers In A Twist" and "Died In A Lake", both with Jay on lead vocals, sound like they could've easily been Slomo Rabbit Kick songs. The bouncy piano on "Therefore Talk" remind me of Madness, only without the ska bits, and "Dinner Train" briskly chugs along on a boom-chk-boom-chk rhythm and twangy bass line.

All in all, The Dutch Elms' "Music For Happiness" is smile-inducing and thoroughly enjoyable and I implore anyone in need of a dose of sun-shiny pop to check it out. If you're a fan of bands like The Breezy Porticos, Dressy Bessy, or Slomo Rabbit Kick, or any of the other bands mentioned above for that matter, then The Dutch Elms come doubly recommended!

--Shmat, Nov. '04
- Shmat

The only way to have a more accurately descriptive title for this record would be if it was called "This is a CD!"

Dutch Elms' debut, Music For Happiness, is a sticky-sweet, 60s-California-beach-pop-colored glowing mass of sunshine reminiscent of the originators, The Beach Boys, and more recently, dios - but with just a small pinch of city roots.

Yesterday's Coffee and Don't Call Me Winston provide the first real highlight with early Beatles meets The Monkees rhythm and stylings. Nothing groundbreaking, but a couple of pleasantries none-the-less. Lodger-esque Amelia Airheart takes the first real step away from it's fellow tracks providing much needed variety. Quirky Limp Around The Park is somewhere between The Incredible Moses Leroy and The Beatles' You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) - pop tainted loungy swing. The standout track is easily Died In A Lake. A mixture of garage rock and punk infused pop, the sound that should have been developed as the "Dutch Elms sound" is unfortunately limited to this one track. While there is a fair amount of variance from the sunny side, the majority of these tracks are more at home on sandy shores than in the bands home base of Seattle.

It may be raining outside right now, but the sun is shining in my headphones...

--Just Add Noise, Nov. '04 - Just Add Noise

The Dutch Elms come from the same fertile soil as the Revolutionary Hydra, and for that matter share a connection with Death Cab for Cutie, thanks to the work in all three of Mr. Jay Chilcote. It's a complicated family tree, but it is there, and in this incarnation, is devoid of all the gray, rainy drizzle of the Seattle surroundings. Music for Happiness couldn't be named more plainly; at times, it is so sugary it could give you a stomachache.

There are instances where Music for Happiness is just too much. The opening track, "Cleopatra", is enough to scare you off from your favorite candy for a while. It begins like a cartoon theme with breezy male/female harmonies, and a sweetness that is almost instantly cloying. The go-go dancer-meets-mod hipster theme, "Therefore Talk" ventures to the same sugar high oblivion, and the overbearing nature of it all can ultimately turn you off.

Thankfully, though, a greater majority of the tracks know how to make the most of a subdued nature, at least hinting at deeper reflection and their musical roots. Quite a few songs feel vaguely like Elliott Smith, with an understated, winded quality that plays up nice harmonies and sobering-yet-retro pop inclinations. "Yesterday's Coffee" could be followed with the offering, "Please share my umbrella," as the songs evoke similar feelings. Likewise, "Dinner Train" picks up on "Last Train to Clarksville," and the strained piano pop and soft-spoken, beachy vocals of "Don't Call Me Winston" remind me why people were so crazy for the Monkees in their day.

"Died in a Lake" is the only real oddity in tone, but it works – the track is garage rock in the truest sense, holed up next to cars and cans as it makes a go at sparse, Kinks-inspired noise. It doesn't feel out of place, however, as the cutting board has generally been reserved for the excessively sweet, overdone numbers mentioned above.

By the time we reach the final, and best, track of the album, however, the sugar has fairly settled to the bottom of the glass. "Letters From" is lovely, making the most of the pop format with ease, harmony and restraint. It is well worth waiting for, and in hindsight, gives a graceful reflection on the rest of the album. When taken in its entirety, Music for Happiness is a satisfying pop album, where real happiness is found in depth. There's something profound to be said in that, but I'll leave the record to be enjoyed; that seems to be its selfless purpose.

--Lost At Sea, Nov. '04
- Lost at Sea

Indie pop is all around us lately. Everyone is weighing in with their latest take on a sometimes tired genre. Fortunately this Seattle quartet isn't exhausting at all. Their melodic approach is without reproach and is what Brian Wilson would be doing if he wasn't busy being all famous and stuff. What is best is the lack of pretentiousness, which typically haunts a lot of indie pop records of late. Superb-olicious.

--smother.net, Nov. '04

- Smother

Ladies and Gentlemen, "Music For Happiness" is what real pop music sounds like. "6535 Cleopatra!" Those are the first words the Dutch Elms sing and from that moment onwards, I knew this would be one of those cute-beyond-words records. And that it was. Don't get me wrong, it's not puppies and kitties cute. It's a sort of intelligent pop record. I doubt these Elm kids wrote it to be that deep, but it ends up being so. This is intelligence but it's also as catchy as Dr. Seuss. Plus Frothy melodies and scrummy sounds and "things that shake!" "Music for happiness is the funnest," announce the Dutch Elms and how right they are.

--Shtick, Oct. '04
- Shtick