Chicago-based Cardinal Harbor's 'Vulture Hottub' is a 'mosaic,' pulling from the likes of rock 'n' roll, hip hop, indie rock, disco to create a new sound in the local scene
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Spencer McCreary met me in Estereo around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, to sip on beers and chat about his band's new music. McCreary fronts Chicago-based Cardinal Harbor, one alternative, experimental group that is composed of six members and has been together since their college years. The band had been working on their latest record, "Vulture Hottub," for the past three years, and it officially came together probably around six months ago, McCreary tells me, only to be fully released Friday, Sept. 6.
The record has been recognized as somewhat of a "space western," drawing from classical influences and rock 'n' roll, tossing in indie-disco vibes with instruments such as violin, saxophone and synth, among other obvious pieces. McCreary references Radiohead and the Stones as well as Chicago's Eighth Blackbird as influences. "Vulture Hottub" is unexpected from the local music scene in Chicago. Unlike other bands that are doing indie-rock, psych or math-rock, Cardinal Harbor is releasing this collection of "mosaic" pieces that have been thoughtfully placed together after being intentionally shattered. McCreary, who does vocals, guitar, synth and violin, says that's the single thing that makes "Vulture Hottub" what it is: the mindless destruction and then innovation stemming from a million different ideas and noises and influences.
Everything about the new record from Cardinal Harbor—made up of McCreary, Chris Hills on bass and guitar, Joel Stapleton on synth and guitar, Mark Andersen on drums, Taylor Dalton on guitar and Scott Carrick on saxophone—points back to that concept. Being the most honest I think I can be here, "Vulture Hottub" didn't entirely make sense to me upon first listen. After re-listening several times and then again the day of the interview with McCreary, it sort of started to make sense. The confusion was only out of my misunderstanding of the reality that there is music that hasn't been heard yet. This isn't a new Taylor Swift or Lana album; this isn't another garage-rock band from the west suburbs of Chicago. "Vulture Hottub" pulls from multiple different concepts and genres which is why it might have been slightly more difficult to digest from the get-go.
That isn't a bad thing, either. Cardinal Harbor has already created a rock album in the past with "Euclid." This new record aims to reject all of tradition and deliver something entirely fresh to the local scene—and the world, frankly. "Let's see if we can dig up new things," McCreary tells me about the band's intentions for the new record as we sip on Victorias in the bar. The weather was in the 60s that day, which is why I suggested we meet where we did. Beers were the right choice. I think I'm beginning to understand more. "It's like an excavation of saying there's stuff down there that we don't really even know. We're gonna try to find weird noises. Like run a sampler through a tape machine that's going through your car stereo and miked up to your room. Weird." He jokes that the miking techniques weren't very professional for the record.
There's violin strung throughout, auto-tune is used heavily, which was a bold route to take the album, I would say, considering the negative connotations auto-tune has had in the past. It's definitely something that isn't standard in 2019 for music. Listen to it again. Click the shareable SoundCloud link. St _ Clare plays: "Honey, I told ya, caught fire in the open snow. Raised at the pulpit, caught fire in the open snow, and I'll be at the door." There's passion, but more than that, I can begin to feel the intensity of the reality in what McCreary shared with me Wednesday afternoon. Cardinal Harbor are a family. Experiences from over the last three years of creating the record have been fully documented throughout the entirety of "Vulture Hottub." You can feel it even more when you follow along with the lyrics on the band's website, photos of memories scattered alongside each track. It's intimate. I think I understand now.
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| "Vulture Hottub" is a documentation of the band members' time spent together over the last three years. Photo courtesy of Cardinal Harbor. |
Cardinal Harbor released "Vulture Hottub" mainly as an outlet for "expression, friendship and all that," McCreary says. "We made it for ourselves." Still, McCreary says they hope the record will be received by listeners as relevant in some way to their own lives. Being able to connect with someone else's personal life experiences is worthy of a high five, he adds. Technically, "Vulture Hottub" sounds clean and crisp. I wonder what it will sound like live. The bandmates did everything themselves, beginning to end, including the mixing, recording, producing, creating merch. "That was kind of like the whole aesthetic of it," McCreary explains, adding the band made that decision in order to fully represent themselves through the project.
As for the local music scene in Chicago, McCreary says the band has always tried to be a part of whatever scene existed but that there wasn't always such an inclusive and collaborative scene. "Chicago has a pretty collaborative scene going on which is shocking," he says, adding that it's a blessing to be able to meet, connect with and work with different bands for various projects. "We're trying to be a better local band—better in the scene," McCreary explains. "There's a line—I'm about to quote myself, apologies." We both laugh as he continues:
"There was a line that was sung out of frustration in this new record in 'Falcon Punch' that says, 'I'm the scene incarnate.' The whole song is just this toxicity in self-righteousness; everybody falls subject to it. One of the most self-righteous things that we found was fun was this character Falcon Punch from the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros [who] says his name before he does his signature move. ... That line, 'I'm the scene incarnate,' was written out of frustration that there really wasn't that much of a local music scene [in the past].
"Right when we finished recording that song, I kind of just said maybe it isn't all about our band; who cares about what we're doing and what we're making. It's really about the other people who are doing the same things. Open your arms and say, like, this is about people. We need to be supportive of as much of the scene as possible."
"Vulture Hottub" is officially available to stream everywhere, including Spotify and Apple Music. Listeners should pay close attention for the sample included at the end of the first track that says, "It's party time," McCreary tells me, poking fun at the band's decision to include a sample from a '90s Jim Carey movie, rather than a more sophisticated sample from someone like Stevie Nicks: "Like, oh, I got this beautiful sample, but it's not a beautiful sample. It's really distorted and horrible. The movie's great." I get it. That's Cardinal Harbor.
Get your tickets for the release show at Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave., tonight, Sept. 6, here. Follow Cardinal Harbor on Instagram to keep up with their shows, releases, new music and more goods. Catch you at the show, friends.
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