by Conor Lochrie (@conornoconnor)
Prepare for the new normal: musicians forming bands and making music together over hundreds of miles, maybe more. When the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted their careers, members of Varsity, Daphne Tunes, and Living Hour decided to form a DIY supergroup spanning the North American Central Time Zone. Called Central Heat Exchange, their self-titled debut was first initiated by Jacob Stolz, who sent a snippet of a song onto Santiago Dietche, who added his own instrumentals, and then sent on to Paul Stolz and Adam Soloway to add their own thoughts and touches.
This was the mode of operation for all eleven songs on their debut album and it’s why it’s remarkable how cohesive it all ends up sounding. That’s without mentioning the more than dozen musician friends who lend their talents and instruments to several of the songs here too. Their debut is a collection of proper indie rock, with earnest melodicism and rich rhythm, that recalls the strongest purveyors of the form from the early 00’s, particularly Broken Social Scene, Wilco, Yo La Tengo, and The Shins.
The act of conducting collaboration within such isolation naturally seeped into the lyrics and much of the songs display an intense wistfulness. ‘Help Me Understand’ makes one feel nostalgic for past days out with friends; the sparse and solemn ‘Dusty Glass’ captures that feeling of watching the world go by from your window, waiting for something to happen. “Life’s just a passing lane / Practically a jet plane,” they say in the wistful closing song ‘Drumless’; although it’s almost certainly unintentional, I instantly thought of a connection to one of the most wistful songs from the 60’s, Peter, Paul and Mary’s ‘Leaving On A Jet Plane’.
Central Heat Exchange’s sound offers adaptable melancholy, perhaps owing to the scattered recording locales: you can imagine yourself listening to these tunes while driving down a leafy street in Oregon, or while looking out over the icy expanse of Lake Michigan, or at a last-minute midwest show in some ramshackle house. It shouldn’t be surprising the level of such well-constructed and impactful indie rock tracks as ‘Fortnight’ and ‘Tulips At My Bedside’ considering the background of the four members. It’s not a one-note process either, with more experimental cuts ‘Horsey Cop’ and ‘Tomatoes (Breath Of God)’ offering intriguing turns towards the album’s end.
As an exercise in community bonding, Central Heat Exchange’s debut offers hope for the DIY community at large, if this is the direction music may be heading. It would be fitting, though, if its four members could one day soon get together in real life and play these songs live.