Demo2Dero: Trio in Stereo

April 27, 2008

BY JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC

Despite what the band name might lead you to believe, there actually are five members of Trio in Stereo -- vocalist PJ McMahon, bassist Marc King, keyboardist Logan Cradick, guitarist Mike Nelson and drummer Chris Kolodziej, augmented at various times by assorted friends on horns and backing vocals -- and they formed when they were all in college at Indiana University in Bloomington, then moved en masse to Chicago to build on what they started with their 2005 debut, the "Everyone Here Looks Familiar" EP.

Since then, the band has spent a lot of time gigging around with kindred sonic spirits such as Mary Timony and Midstates, as well as tweaking the impressive mix of vintage '90s shoegazer guitars and rhythms and endearingly odd Elephant 6-style orchestral pop flourishes on its first full album, "Bury it to Dig It Up," self-released in mid-February, and available for free streaming or paid download on its Web site, www.myspace.com/trioinstereoband.

Since then, the band has spent a lot of time gigging around with kindred sonic spirits such as Mary Timony and Midstates, as well as tweaking the impressive mix of vintage '90s shoegazer guitars and rhythms and endearingly odd Elephant 6-style orchestral pop flourishes on its first full album, "Bury it to Dig It Up," self-released in mid-February, and available for free streaming or paid download on its Web site, www.myspace.com/trioinstereoband.

If the group is half as accomplished onstage as it is on the wonderfully trippy but undeniably catchy recordings of songs such as "The Show," "She's Not a Robot" and "Jupiter," it's primed to claim a spot in the front ranks of Chicago's psychedelic-pop elite. Judge for yourself at its next gig, May 8 at Lilly's, 2513 N. Lincoln.

If the group is half as accomplished onstage as it is on the wonderfully trippy but undeniably catchy recordings of songs such as "The Show," "She's Not a Robot" and "Jupiter," it's primed to claim a spot in the front ranks of Chicago's psychedelic-pop elite. Judge for yourself at its next gig, May 8 at Lilly's, 2513 N. Lincoln.