3 Feet High & Rising: Pittsburgh Post-punk/New Wave Band Chantillion Re-emerge with New EP "Great set! Lotta energy" (self-released)
Pittsburgh-based Post-punk/New Wave band Chantillion aren't exactly a new/"rising" artist, as this column's title might suggest—they've been active since releasing 2017 single "Brassque"—but they are, in fact, new to these digital pages of The Witzard. Chantillion's line-up consists of Amos Levy on "lead synthesizer," Jackson O'Connell-Barlow on synth/vocals, Justin Pelissero on bass guitar, and Gregg Weber on drums. O'Connell-Barlow is a frequent collaborator and affiliate of Shark Tank's Height Keech & Mickey "Free" Freeland. Jackson O'Connell-Barlow currently has an active solo project dubbed MRS.PAINTBRUSH and was once in a Hip-Hop group called Grand Buffet with Jarrod Weeks AKA Lord Grunge from Shark Tank, as well. During their Grand Buffet heyday, Jackson & Jarrod were commonly refereed to as Mr. Pennsylvania, Nate Kukla & Plaps and Fred Durts, Matt Kukla & Viceroy, respectively. Weber previously drummed with Cyrus Gold and Glow In The Dark, while Pelissero played with Cyrus Gold, as well as Miracle Worker.
Chantillion's musical output, thus far, at least, is a bit more Post-punk/New Wave/World music-leaning, as opposed to Jackson O'Connell-Barlow's previous Hip-Hip/Indie Rock-leaning output with Grand Buffet. Their music is, also, commonly labelled as "Hardstyle" (ie: EDM/Electronic?) "Pittsburgh," and "Rock" on Bandcamp, as well. "CHANTILLION was born out of an interest that both I & Gregg (drummer) had in creating a Post-punk-ish band that lacked rhythm or lead guitar. I'd always wanted to collaborate with him sometime because he's such a physical player, I knew it would be a loud, cathartic experience," Jackson O'Connell-Barlow recently told The Witzard, via email. As O'Connell-Barlow explains it: Gregg Weber recruited his frequent collaborator, Justin Pelissero, to fulfill bass guitar duties; while Jackson recruited Amos Levy, an accomplished Pittsburgh-area Hip-Hop DJ and producer around town then-known as DJ Thermos, who always wanted to play synth in a live band. "It's a fun project for me to put ideas that'd never work in the context of my more eclectic home studio project," Jackson O'Connell-Barlow further explains.
Chantillion have previously self-released two singles, "Brassque" & "CROWS '87," as well as a 2018 EP laughably titled For Those About to Rock / We Will Sue You. Now, Chantillion have returned with an equally-awesome 3-track EP fittingly dubbed "Great set! Lotta energy," which, I'm guessing, was named in honor of a favorable review of a live gig. Although, clocking in at a brief 16 minutes total, Chantillion's "Great set! Lotta energy" explores a multitude of styles, sonic textures, and studio trickery. I would, personally compare it to something somewhere in-between Scissor Sisters and Franz Ferdinand. Honestly, one of the finer non-musical moments throughout the EP takes place after the main musical section of closing track "Jamminator," wherein someone suddenly exclaims, "Oh, f**k yeah, brother! It's the weekend! You know what that means... Brewdog and some HAMMM-BURGERS! HAMBURGERS AND HOT-HOT-HOTDOGS!!!" and then, "I LIKE FOOTBALL... I LIKE BASEBALL... WE LIKE BASKETBALL!" Chantillion's latest EP, "Great set! Lotta energy" is currently available to stream, purchase, or download at your leisure on Bandcamp.