Out the Car Window

There’s a reason the blues has universal appeal: everyone, at some point, has been hurt by life, and there are only so many ways to express that hurt. Chicago’s Out The Car Window may not be a blues band in any way, shape or form, but upon inspection it’s apparent the indie rockers pull as much inspiration from Son House as Courtney Barnett, crafting emotionally-dense epics about the inherent trials of human existence.

The group’s forthcoming Paint the Sorry Ground EP marks a new chapter in the band’s existence, as it’s the first outing with a bassist. Guitarist Matt Carlton and guitarist/vocalist Jake Wahlen started the group in high school as a side project, eventually adding drummer Griffin Taylor as the band became their primary focus. Releasing a couple of singles and a self-titled full-length with that lineup, the group added aforementioned bassist Mitch Nickolaou earlier this year and have shifted from their original folk-inspired sound to something more akin to the days before “emo” became a four-letter word. The arpeggiated guitar arrangements and heartfelt, careening vocals call to mind Neva Dinova or Bright Eyes, while the group’s knack for unconventional arrangements and lyrical ambiguity shows a deep appreciation for Neutral Milk Hotel.

“We really want people to listen to our lyrics and to be able to put their own interpretation into the songs,” says Carlton. “Since they are very personal to us, we want the music to be personal to other people as well.”

Songs like “Thinking Only” build on a slow burn of a drum groove, building to searing peaks while Wahlen’s low, gravelly voice shakes the rafters, the song’s gloriously unmelodic guitar solo giving way to a massive, explosive crescendo. “Yellow Pages” cops a jaunty swagger, all sharp guitars and bouncing bass at sharp odds with the darkly introspective lyrics: “I don’t believe in myself, I screamed with a wink” Wahlen slyly slurs, before admitting: “No, this song is not about you / But I can’t sing without you.”

“Pick It Up and Walk Away” finds the band waxing vintage Americana, a gently-strummed acoustic accented by warbling arpeggiated electric, topped with Wahlen’s self examination at its harshest. “This open wound is to remind me I’m a pacifist,” he sings at the end of the first verse, only to turn the tables on himself with his next breath. “But my pacifistic lie is just so funny I could die / I wonder what they’d write on the stone / ‘Had a lot to say, and nearly always said it best with a fist,’” he wryly intones as the guitars drone away behind him.

But the album’s closer, “Immovable,” is the track that finds the band straying furthest from their folk-strewn beginnings. The song would have been impossible before the addition of Nickolaou’s perfectly-restrained bass, which provides the foundation of the song. With the conversational/confessional tone of the vocal and the occasional flurries of drums and distortion, the song shows not only a remarkable understanding of composition, but underscores the chemistry between the musicians. - Radio One Chicago

We are Out the Car Window and we are an indie-folk-rock band from Chicago. The band started originally as an acoustic side project between Jake Wahlen and Matt Carlton aside from our other band in high school. After Matt moved to Chicago and our high-school band ended, we decided that since we were still writing music, to take our new and old songs and make them electric, with our friend Griffin Taylor playing drums.

We recorded our self-titled album with a buddy of ours named Andrew Dunn back home in Indiana. We really want people to listen to our lyrics and to be able to put their own interpretation into the songs. Since they are very personal to us, we want to music to be personal to other people as well. But most importantly, we want people to enjoy the music and to have a good time we they listen to us.

We pull inspiration heavily from Bob Dylan, Shakey Graves, Conor Oberst, Neutral Milk Hotel, Son House and other old blues guitar players. A lot of our music deals with personal events that have happened in our lives and these songs reflect on how we dealt with those experiences.

Out the Car Window will perform at the Abbey Pub in late March on a stellar local bill. Details below: - Fearless Radio