The Contra Costa Times
Sometimes you simply have to pipe down. I just can't shake the image of
smiling hippie children frolicking down a hill while listening to
Chemystry Set. Or an elderly, beanie-wearing, bearded Irish beatnik I
once knew who, in a warehouse full of longhairs and urbanites, insisted
on playing his cool jazz between CD's of disaffected grunge and angry
hip-hop. It was his refuge and he did his best to take the rest of us
there (maybe just to pipe the young punks down).
Chemystry Set piped me down.
In a good way, of course. The band sounds like they should be boiling
their cool, sociological observations and tales on a Berkeley street
corner. Beginning as an experiment among friends at a house in the
Hayward Hills, Chemystry Set is now out sharing their thing with club
fans in the East Bay and San Francisco.
Beside the vocals, drums, guitar and bass, the eight-member band features
mandolins, piano, tamboura and kitchen utensils - whatever it takes to
get the job done. It's the sort of thing that prompts people to dance in
public. There's a trace of the spirit of bands like the Grateful Dead in
their music, but it doesn't cross the line into too much space jamming -
though there's definitely improvisation, with members feeding each others
new grooves and things born from experimentation.
Some sounds vibrate between open-air jazz and old Genesis-type
progressiveness (Peter Gabriel Genesis, not 1980's "Invisible touch"
Genesis). There's a free groove that doesn't give away where the song is
going next. All in all, it's a great vibe.
Did I just say "great vibe?" Well......."Have a nice day," while I'm at
it. Honestly, and this comes from someone who once equated music with
hitting things as hard as possible, that's OK. It works. I don't think
anyone would say they don't need some good vibes. Certainly not my friend
from the warehouse.
CHEMYSTRY SET EXPERIMENT HAS BEEN TURNING OUT WELL
by Tony Hicks,7/2/99