For most of my life, I've been behind the pack in discovering new artists. It seems that I don't check out a band until they have already received rave reviews from all the important magazines, appealing to the hip demographics by releasing music on the right labels. For me, Chase Jedick has been the exception to this trend.I first heard Chase's music a little over two years ago when we met up in college. I was dumbfounded that his back catalogue already contained over two hundred songs, and was even more impressed by his production abilities, filling out a song with little more than an acoustic guitar and intertwining melodies.
When The Bitter and the Unbelievable was released last year, I had a feeling that Chase was on his was to joining a host of well praised newcomers to the indie-folk business. Although the album contained great potential, and received its fair share of support from the online music community, it became apparent that moving albums is nearly impossible without the support of a label.
Undaunted, Jedick returned to the drawing board, morphing his folk style into a weird (yet poppy) conglomeration of indie-folk and rock. The change of pace couldn't have worked better, as Break of Day features a mashing of sounds, restlessly experimenting with different styles. The opener, "Do You See Love?", starts off as a power-pop tune (think Flaming Lips) before growing into a jovial chorus of "Have a Goddam, good damn, day". The EP quickly switches gears with the medieval sound of "McKenzington", where Jedick proves he's as much of a lyricist as a guitarist and producer. The second to last track off the EP, "Society", pairs an acoustic riff with an indictment of modern humanity. Lines like "The faster life goes/The sooner you get told/That the slower life goes/The faster you get old" could give Isaac Brock a run for his money. The disc closes with four tracks from previous Chase Jedick albums, which (in the least) highlight the songwriting prowess that he's possessed for years.
Although I consider this one of the top five releases of 2005, I doubt you'll see Break of Day on the billboard charts. However, if the right person discovers Chase Jedick, remember where you first heard the name.