*** Humidifier

NOTHING CHANGES

(Link)

Some side projects are an excuse for an artist to break out of the routine he/she has fallen into with his/her regular band. Others indulge solo songwriting aspirations. Humidifier is simply a chance for Spent guitarist John King and Superchunk guitarist Jim Wilbur to do more of what they do in their respective bands: smart, hook-laced, guitar-driven indie rock with unassumingly earnest vocals, clever turns of phrase ("Nature Calls Albert Collect"), and scruffy melodies.

Formed way back in 1986, when King, Wilbur, and drummer Denis Saulnier were enrolled at Fairfield University in Connecticut, Humidifier have been reuniting to record every other year or so ever since. These days King and Wilbur are about as close as you'll come to seasoned pros in the more or less unseasoned realm of indie rock. Switching off on bass and guitar while Saulnier pounds away at suitably driving tempos, they split the difference between Superchunk's churn and the ragged chime of Spent. In other words, fans of either band will be pleased, if somewhat puzzled by the fact that Nothing Changes isn't on Superchunk's Merge label.

-- Matt Ashare

(Humidifier open for Miracle Legion and Swizzle upstairs at the Middle East this Friday, February 21.)