C is for Chin Up Chin Up

By Sarah

n perusing my musical library for this post, it seems that my taste in artists that begin with C leaves something to be desired. Sure, I own every Coldplay album (side note: "Amsterdam" from A Rush of Blood To The Head is my favorite song to drive the bridges in Portland to) but I felt the pull to write about one of my favorite weird little bands: Chin Up Chin Up.

I'm just gonna go ahead and put this out there: I really have no idea why I like this band. They're a little weird. In 2004, I stumbled upon the album We Never Should Have Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers after downloading the track "Virginia Don't Drown" for free from Insound's website. I liked the general sound so I impulsively purchased the album a few weeks later. After a few listens, I was a fan, but couldn't quite put my finger on why. Sometimes there isn't a deep, emotional reason behind the music we like. Some music moves you, some music you really connect with, and some music you just dig. For me, Chin Up Chin Up falls into the latter category. I suppose sometimes I'm just a sucker for some good ol' indie pop. Possibly one of my most favorite song titles ever is, "Why Is My Sleeping Bag A Ghetto Muppet?" The song's pretty awesome, too. Again, can't really say why.

I haven't checked out their follow-up, 2007's This Harness Can't Ride Anything. Although, if the title is any indication, I imagine it's just as awesomely confusing as their first record. Chin Up Chin Up officially broke up earlier this year, which is a bummer. I was looking forward to the song titles.