The Daily Tar Heel
Schooner melds accessibility with innovation
By linnie greene
assistant diversions editor
Unlike many “session” albums,
Schooner’s latest release doesn’t
abandon conciseness in favor of a
few quick studio jams. There are no
dawdling tracks, no sprawling com-
positions — instead, the Chapel
Hill band has crafted six songs that
distill warm, summery pop into a
brief and melodic romp that blos-
soms like a springtime bud.
The album, which is sold exclu-
sively on CyTunes, a music down-
load site set up to pay off the med-
ical bills of former scene hero Cy
Schooner lead singer Reid Johnson performs with his band at Local 506 last spring. The band will celebrate
the release of its Duck Kee Sessions EP with a party at Durham’s Pinhook venue on Friday night.
MUSICreview
schooner
duck kee sessions
POP
Rawls, is full of energy.
“Feel Better” opens with the
clamber of what sounds like a
washboard paired with plaintive
hoots, quickly merging with Reid
Johnson’s raucous chorus. This
blend of quirkiness and catchiness
characterizes most of the EP. Just
when it all starts to feel as casual
Diversions
HOP ABOARD THE SCHOONER
Time: 10 p.m. Friday
Location: The Pinhook
177 W. Main St., Durham
Info: www.thepinhook.com
and chaotic as a backyard jam,
the band rallies the listener with a
rousing chorus.
The mellow tracks reveal simi-
lar innovation, albeit less blatantly.
The homegrown instrumentation
of “Fortuition” is a graceful com-
panion to the male-female vocals,
which twist and merge in effort-
dth File/Jordan Lawrence
thursday, february 18, 2010 9
less harmony. The intersection of
polished and unrefined elements
strikes an ideal balance where nei-
ther attribute eclipses the other.
But at some points, the balance
is not so refined. Instrumental
“Duck Kee Nights” pairs clang-
ing, discordant xylophones with
the sound of croaking frogs, and
while it’s an appropriate ode to
the album’s relaxed, backwoods
aesthetic, the song ultimately dis-
solves in a two-minute mélange of
cacophony.
Despite two minutes of disso-
nance, the majority of Schooner’s
Sessions prove that the band has
the creativity to fashion catchy,
breezy pop out of unexpected ele-
ments, fusing oddball instruments
with accessible chord progressions
and choruses. With this short set
of songs, Schooner establishes its
prowess at combining the unex-
pected with the readily approach-
able, and it’s a formula that works
in the group’s favor.
dth File/Jordan Lawrence
Contact the Diversions Editor Drummer Billy Alphin plays with Chapel Hill pop band Schooner during
at dive@unc.edu. a show last spring. The band’s new EP is available at CyTunes.org.
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