by Ljubinko Zivkovic (@zivljub)
Can Philadelphia’s Webb Chapel, the quartet of Zack Claxton (vocals/guitar), Josh Lesser (guitar), Rachel Gordon (vocals/bass), and Christian Mailloux (drums) win the world cup with their latest offering titled, World Cup? Well, not sure if you are talking about any particular sport, but they just may be contenders if we are talking about that exuberant form of art rock that relies on the prime Sonic Youth-like dual guitar attack, a sense of feel and momentary impulse, rather than on a thoroughly thought-out songwriting process.
To some, it might sound like a chaos, but in the case of Webb Chapel, it is a kind of a chaos that works so well, as it all clicks whether it is the controlled attack of the opener “Springtime,” or the quite sublime vocal harmonies and more subtle guitars of “Blowing Trees with My Dad”. That Sonic Youth comparison seems to do with the approach to songwriting and playing than any direct sound influence as Claxton, Gordon, and the rest of the band go about creating their music more from a momentary feel than a firmly formed structure. “There’s something about hearing people playing things in a room,” Claxton explains, "Sometimes you’ll listen back and be like ‘What’s going on here?’
The key here lies in the fact that this “feel” is the right one, whether they go all-out as on “Pretty,” or they cool it down and go acoustic as on “Amelia”. What we get with World Cup is some inspirational, not so easy to define rock, that, yes, has that great “feel”. Oh, and all proceeds benefit The Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, so the money is not that is key to Webb Chapel.