In sharp contrast to the feedback-fed guitar attack of the The Mooney Suzuki and The Datsuns, the two acts who split the bill at the last major ’Sco event last month, mellow acoustic connoisseurs Pullman are set to release quite a different vibe on Oberlin April 11. Along with the opening act, avant-folksters Califone, Pullman is sure to set the perfect mood for the bleary-eyed dawn of an Ohio spring.

Pullman’s line-up reads like a who’s who of Chicago indie rock — Bundy K. Brown, formerly of Tortoise, now of Directions in Music, Chris Brokaw of Come, Curtis Harvey of Rex fame, and Douglas McCombs, Tortoise’s current bassist.
Though their music is as impressive as the roster would suggest, their tunes don’t fall into the post-rock/jazz/techno realm that bands like Tortoise and Isotope 217 helped to create. These guys don’t play with beat boxes and synthesizers, they’re an acoustic quartet that use acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, banjos and whatever else is on hand. Add the occasional slide guitar, and some tasteful bass and percussion to the mix and you’ve got Chicago avant-folk — a unique, yet quite traditional, instrumental music.
After 1998’s well-received Turnstyles and Junkpiles, the band’s first disc, Pullman released Viewfinder last September. On this album, like their debut, one rarely hears evidence of the post-production wizardry that made Tortoise famous. Instead the band calls upon the acoustic legacies of Nick Drake, John Fahey and even Jimmy Page to create soundscapes as mellow and intimate as warm summer rain.
Though “Felucca” comes close to Tortoise’s rhythmic experimentation and distinctive melodies, the rest of the tunes carve a niche all their own. The majority of these build themselves off of effortlessly plucked acoustic guitars that seamlessly meld with lazy bass and slide guitar before fading away again as naturally as they had come. The opener “Some Grain with New Wood,” along with “Forty Fingers” and “Wire and One Good Shoe,” are the best places to look for this vibe.
The true standout of the record, though, has got to be “Isla Mujeres” with its languid Spanish guitar, plaintive mandolin and accordion, and South American atmospherics. The mood is so transportive, you can almost feel the suntan working its way across your shoulders.
In support is another Chicago indie standout, Califone. Composed entirely of former members of Red Red Meat, Califone released their debut LP Roomsound last year to positive reviews. Their first two EPs, 1998’s self-titled release on Flydaddy/Perishable and 2000’s self-titled recording on Road Cone, were combined this year on the compilation Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People. Tim Rutili, Brain Deck and Ben Massarella revel in beat-heavy acoustic tunes saturated with quirky studio experimentation, and guest appearances, as on Roomsound, of members of Tortoise, Eleventh Dream Day and Fruitbats.

Their music’s charming invention and undeniable weirdness will juxtapose nicely next Thursday with the bucolic compositions of Pullman, which ground them firmly in the American folk music of the past half-century. One can think of few better ways to welcome back spring to Oberlin’s winter-weary campus than to finish out the school year with Pullman’s and Califone’s soothing acoustic stylings. The ’Sco will host this duo next Thursday, April 11, and all looking to get a taste of the music that has come to define the indie capital of Chicago need look no further then their own student union.