Cardigans
Two years ago the local record label Minty Fresh wowed the music biz and boosted the profile of Chicago’s rock scene by scooping up the virtually unknown Veruca Salt and quickly passing them on to Geffen for a big-money deal and overnight success. Since then, Minty Fresh has signed a few more promising bands, two of which breezed through town for a show last Friday.
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Decked out in snazzy black-and-white-striped pajamas, the Legendary Jim Ruiz Group nearly transformed the Double Door into a suburban rec room where they might have been playing for their parents and guests before having to go to bed on a school night. Singer-songwriter-guitarist Jim Ruiz bobs up and down with the giddy enthusiasm of one enjoying the prom despite having neither dated nor danced before. He’s flanked by his singing wife Stephanie and keyboard-playing brother Chris, who execute their parts with nary a gesture for the crowd, perhaps hoping to make it all the way through the set unnoticed. To a gentle samba beat Jim and Stephanie croon together in hushed tones that rarely project outward. Little wonder the excitement-seeking audience’s chatter level swelled until it almost drowned out the band. Philosophically Ruiz interjected, “When I hear people talking when I’m playing I like it because I hate when a band is playing and I can’t even talk to my friend right next to me.”
The well-crafted, slickly produced tracks on the Cardigans’ American debut, Life, have proved irresistible to practically everyone I know who’s heard them. Yet it sounds like it was recorded in a vacuum by people who always smile and look good and never sweat. Part of the interest in seeing the Cardigans live was to find out how well their perfect-world sound would hold up in earthy Wicker Park.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): Photo of Legendary Jim Ruiz Group by Scott Free.
