Click here for QRO's interview with Chris Archibald
Click here for QRO's review of Illinois as part of Central Park Summerstage on September 10th, 2008
The final chapter of Illinois’ epic The Adventures of Kid Catastrophe is its best. Coming off of two great EPs, 2005’s Revenge of Some Young Kid and 2007’s What the Hell Do I Know? (QRO review), and numerous opening slot touring stints, Philadelphia’s Illinois eschewed the normal next step, of cherry-picking the best of their old & new stuff for a debut LP, but instead embarked on an ambitious six EPs in six months odyssey, starting in November of last year, along with touring the eastern seaboard more times than you can shake a stick at, not to mention a trip out west, including South-by-Southwest (QRO recap). Oh, and their music ranged even farther, from the tech of Chapter 1 (QRO review) to the banjo-twang of Chapter 2 (QRO review) and sadness of Chapters 3 (QRO review) & 4 (QRO review), with balance in Chapter 5 (QRO review). And to close, Illinois one-ups themselves by going bigger.
Click here for photos of Illinois at Webster Hall in New York, NY on November 11th, 2007 in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Click here for photos of Illinois at CMJ 2007 in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Click here for QRO's review of Illinois at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn, NY on July 1st, 2007
It’s not surprising that “Kid Catastrophe”, which leads off the last EP, is something of a culmination of the six Adventures. What is surprising is that Illinois doesn’t just add up those parts, but goes beyond the sum, into a grandeur they’ve only hinted at before. The orchestral-like instrumentation is a fuller Illinois, with forceful vocals from the Kid himself, Chris Archibald (QRO interview). What is the band to do after that? Why, flip the script entirely by going back, way back, to Revenge’s “Old Saloon”. This extended version of the ol’ chestnut showcases the origins of Illinois’ unique banjo-twang humor. The script is flipped again for closer “Broken String”, jumping from fun times to sad times. Starting with a “Rocket Man”-like piano (really an underrated song from Elton John; it just has always been hurt by the comparison to David Bowie’s many seventies space epics, and William Shatner’s unintentionally hilarious cover), the sad and sweet loss goes from restraint into melancholy electric guitar.
Along with each chapter of The Adventures of Kid Catastrophe has come a video installment of Archibald with Los Angeles’ People-Food, and The Adventures close out with Arch heading out to People-Food’s own ‘Off the Dial’ concert at L.A.’s historic El Rey Theatre, running into friends like The Morning Benders (QRO live review), label/PR company Plus One’s Jonny Kaps (look for the sweet ‘fro…), many drinks, and many ladies – all done in an interesting stop-motion technique, like it was culled from photographs (which it might have been, but that’s a lot of flash…):
Click here for photos of Illinois' 4th EP release party at Fontana's in New York, NY on February 4th, 2009 in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Click here for all of Illinois' upcoming dates in QRO's 'Spotlight On : Illinois'
Not that this is the end of The Adventures of Kid Catastrophe. Next month, Illinois releases the compiled, deluxe edition Adventures, with two bonus tracks (and more) amid a double-disc-worth of material. And from there, who knows? But the band saved the best-of-the-best for last with Chapter 6.
MP3 Stream: "Kid Catastrophe"
