For the past decade, Chicagoans have enjoyed indie supergroup The Flat Five – a band comprised of Kelly Hogan (vocals), Nora O’Connor (vocal, guitar), Scott Ligon (multi-instrumentalist, vocals), Casey McDonough (bass, vocals) and Alex Hall (drums, vocals), all of whom have spent time in many well-established acts that include the New Pornographers, the Decemberists, Iron and Wine, NRBQ, Andrew Bird, Robbie Fulks, and Alejandro Escovado. In 2016, The Flat Five released their debut It’s a World of Love and Hope – a hodgepodge of songs written or popularized by Hoagy Carmichael, Bob Dorough, The Free Design and The Monkees and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. But for Another World the quintet focuses on the work of a single songwriter – Chris Ligon (Scott’s older brother) who is best known for his work with The Dr. Demento Show. The LP is another strong collection of eclectic harmony-driven retro style songs that draws from a broad spectrum of pop, jazz, R&B, and standards. Notable tracks include: the bouncy off-kilter opening track, “Drip A Drop”; the jazzy pop with scat-style spoken word vocals “Look at the Birdy”; the quirky call-and-response track “I Don’t Even Care”; the witty poetic number “Florida”; the Cole Porter-tinged “Girl of Virginia”; the slow piano waltz “The Great State of Texas”; the infectious Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass-esque “Butterflies Don’t Bite”; the Buddy Holly-esque “This’ll Be the Day”; and the energetic mariachi-tinged closing track “Over and Out.” The Flat Five have the uncanny ability to synthesize the music of the past 60+ years of music into something special and unique in an unexpectedly fun listen. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Dustbowl Revival, Robbie Fulks, Kelly Hogan, Lindsay Lou, NRBQ