The Daredevil Christopher Wright is not, in fact, an Evel Knievel wannabe. Instead it is a three-piece band from Eau Claire, Wisc., the town that also brought us Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. Vernon’s influence is evident in more than just DCW’s location, however, since the songster also mixed the band’s debut album, In Deference to a Broken Back, which they are currently touring nationally to support.
The sound is more diverse than that pedigree implies. The band’s songs range from pretty pieces with high falsettos and overlapping vocals that certainly suggest that they have something to do with Bon Iver and the sensitive Beard-Folk that often goes along with boys singing pretty songs (“The East Coast”) to fairly rocking numbers that hint that they may well have also been listening to groups like The National and The Strokes (“We’re Not Friends”). Taken as a whole, their prowess for telling stories with gently catching melodies most strongly calls to mind early Decemberists albums, but with less grating vocals.
They play CS13 with The Sleeping Sea, Wake the Bear and The Harlequins. Get show details and Sound Advice here.
