Chairs

Being earnest in pop music isn’t dead, by god! There’s Ian Jarvis, author of all music by the band Chairs, at the very least. And Kinnta Records as a whole in general, I guess – Documenters of sci-fi fantasies and love stories in pop melodies and 6/8 waltzes. All whimsy and wonder in the echo of a voice belting out beautiful little tunes. Spritely guitar and weaving McCartney-bass fills them out with a fireplace flicker, warm blankets wrapping up each and every tune on The Droning of an Insect Wing – one to keep you warm this February when the wind whistles and whips by, and the sun still barely seems to creep above the skyline, music lit by moonlight. A comfort-pop band, doing exactly the kind of comfort-pop record you’ve been searching for. Maybe a 1/4-folk and the rest heart-racing/warming indie — cascading guitar arpeggios drizzle like rain, the voice mirroring with its lyrics and the drums trotting along for the ride in sometimes pop, sometimes quasi-marches. Obvious effort put into this music, composition and performance alike, although the thing has the disposition of pure breeze and ease (which is totally unfair and I hate them). Well… at least it’s easy to listen to, so we have that going for us. One of the smoother downs I had the chance to down (again and again) in 2013. - Tiny Mix Tapes

What Chairs proves to me is that pop music doesn’t have to mean music has to be soulless. On The Droning of an Insect Wing, the second full-length album from Montreal-based musician Ian Jarvis, time stands still, or at least slows to an insects’ crawl for a couple years as he assembled this seemingly rag-tag bag of tracks in between stints with Ghostkeeper, Expwy, and You, Yourself and I. The record flows from rumbling rock rhythms to delicate pop melodies with ease, as if these nine tracks were all laid down on one of those long spring weekends when the grass starts breathing of it’s own accord and the flowers are awakening from their coma.
Mind you, there’s an ominous tone that hovers over this record, like a storm brewing somewhere off in the distance (most notably on “Future”), but Jarvis isn’t wallowing in the gallows. Imagine Timber Timbre without all the spookiness and you’ll get an approximation of what you’re in for. “Chain Reaction” has a chugging bass line that could have come from an early Joy Division demo, too, demonstrating just how diverse Charis’ influences can be. You might think after a couple of tracks that you’ll have Chairs pegged, but keep listening, and you’ll realize each track changes your perception of the music, changes what you think you know about what you’re hearing. Repeated listens will bear much fruit for your hungry ears. - Quick Before it Melts

Ian Jarvis, ce ressortissant calgarien installé à Montréal, avait fait bonne impression il y a deux ans avec un premier album, Anthemis. Sur cette suite entièrement DYI, où on peut l'entendre jouer la majeure partie des instruments, il hausse la mise avec un son plus intemporel, à mi-chemin entre la pop folky des années soixante et un indie-pop plus actuel. Les références sont faciles à déceler – Animal Collective dans «Three in the Morning/Breathe Underwater», Brian Wilson d'un bout à l'autre –, mais Jarvis les fond dans un son engageant, où la chaleur domine. L'entraînante «Chain Reaction» montre un efficace côté rock, mais Jarvis semble plus à l'aise encore dans la ballade, comme le prouvent les intimistes «Future» et «Heart». C'est là que Chairs trouve son plus bel équilibre entre les époques, entre les genres. Pour qui aime les enrobages lo-fi et la pop sans âge, The Droning of an Insect Wing est assez irrésistible. - Nightlife Magazine

Montreal’s Chairs (Ian Jarvis) has spent a lot of time participating in other musical projects, besides his own, which include EXPWY, You, Yourself & I, and Ghostkeeper. All the while, he was putting together a solid sophomore LP, The Droning of an Insect Wing. Jarvis has one of those innate abilities to craft likable pop tunes in a multitude of styles ranging from folk to experimental electronic sounds. The Droning of an Insect Wing covers a lot of ground without sounding staggered or disjointed. These qualities make it easy to draw comparisons to artists like Jason Falkner and John Vanderslice.
- Portals

Montreal’s Chairs (Ian Jarvis) has spent a lot of time participating in other musical projects, besides his own, which include EXPWY, You, Yourself & I, and Ghostkeeper. All the while, he was putting together a solid sophomore LP, The Droning of an Insect Wing. Jarvis has one of those innate abilities to craft likable pop tunes in a multitude of styles ranging from folk to experimental electronic sounds. The Droning of an Insect Wing covers a lot of ground without sounding staggered or disjointed. These qualities make it easy to draw comparisons to artists like Jason Falkner and John Vanderslice.
- Portals

Here’s some amazing new music from Montreal’s Ian Jarvis, aka Chairs. Ian also plays as a member of indie bossa kings EXPWY, but his second solo album sees him strike out in a number of different directions. Our favourite moments are, naturally, the most electronic, when Chairs sounds like a more raw Grizzly Bear making experimental synth-pop, as on album opener “Indestructible Machine.” But the quieter and folkier moments of the record are equally strong, and sometimes remind of Timber Timbre, like on “Three in the Morning” and “Heart”.
A terrific album from a very exciting new artist. - Silent Shout

Let’s cut to the chase. The Droning of an Insect Wing is a supremely interesting mix of fractured folk and subtle layers of noise.

Sure, there are hints of chugging pop that dance freely and ever so often, military drums help keep listeners in line and in time, but these songs are defined by a balance of loud and soft that extends far past Mumford & Sons, gravelly vocals, beards and mutherfucking banjo.

Chairs – the solo work of Ian Jarvis – presents a collection of intimate conversations, but there is little comfort to be found. Even as the songs reach their most serene and beautiful moments, they are in a constant state of unrest. Textures jet out from smooth surfaces as ideas and ideologies battle each other.

These songs might not be the anthem for a better tomorrow, but they are more than ready to soundtrack the fight against the all-encompassing grip of apathy.
- Herohill

A quartet directed by the returning Albertan, Ian Jarvis, ‘Chairs’ leans to the left while remaining classical in this, their first album. There’s a scent of McCartney (Photographic Memories), and an air of Matthew Sweet’s nineties album (Meager Fortune) or Elliot Smith’s (Mechanical Bones). The basic production, though creative, requires several listens but the effort is worth it. Jarvis produces nice melody and exciting compositions. The Anthemis reaches its high point with the excellent Two Dimensional, a beautiful acoustic ballad that quite simply deserves to be used in a film. A nice break with the local indie tradition, Chairs joins Lights Off in the select group of local artists plying the vintage best with feeling. - Voir (Montreal)