If winter is a time for sleep, then spring is a wake-up call to insomnia. Witness the all night shouts on Set You Free, the second full-length by Washington, DC's Chisel. One of the trio's first fans was the romantic lyricist Johnny Keats. "Where are the songs of Spring?" he asked, as the dying batteries in his portable CD player slowed the sounds of Set You Free to a wobbly spin. Realizing he wasn't prepared with fresh Eveready's, Keats considered his dilemma: "Think not of them, thou hast thy music too." He gamely attempted to listen to the sounds of his heart, birds chirping, wind song, and the rhythmic click of heels on cobblestone. "Ah, screw it," he pronounced and marched over to CVS for some alkaline. He wanted his Chisel.

As an avid reader of Ye Olde Melody Maker, Keats was tipped early to Chisel's mod-ified pop via the mini-album Nothing New, the full-length 8 a.m. All Day, and on numerous singles. But it wasn't until Set You Free that he noticed the threesome's continuous, but subtle and contiguous, change. Gone was the purely Old Blighty sound, though Keats could still surrender to the beats of "The Unthinkable is True," "The O.T.S.," and "Morely Timmons." Chisel's refined sound took Keats into places of romance on "In Our Time," provided energetic blasts of life on "It's Alright, You're O.K.," and opened his increasingly consumptive lungs with the sweet soul crooning on "River High." "Was it a vision, or a waking dream?" wrote Keats after hearing the album. And you will too.

Shake off the winter and let Chisel Set You Free .

Ted Leo (vocalist/guitarist), John Dugan (percussionist), and Chris Norborg (bassist/vocalist) are Chisel. They would love to talk about Set You Free, the D.C. United, and Johnny Keats, even if the love of Wilde is on your side. Call Matt or Vicky at Autotonic, 901-452-3939.

next