By Jeff Elbel
S
Steady Work & Hard Miles
ymphonic cartoon-music maestro
Raymond Scott meets titanic blues
pianist Otis Spann meets punk icono-
clasts the Minutemen. The Stooges meet
Burt Bacharach, without the horns. French
yé-yé pop at the old west saloon. These off-
kilter combinations aren’t deliberately
ironic; they’re legitimate attempts to make
an elevator pitch for Chicago’s baffling,
delightful, and utterly unique band The
Claudettes. The quartet has borrowed from
the Sundays’ twee indie-pop, mashed up
Otis Redding and Pink Floyd, nodded to
jazz and blues masters alike, and stolen a
drum fill from Steppenwolf. Despite all
odds, the band’s haywire musical compass
has pointed the way toward a sophisticat-
ed, satisfying, and quixotically cohesive
sound. The Claudettes are grand champi-
ons leading a genre of precisely one band.
“Recently, I decided on ‘garage cabaret’ for
our sound, says Claudettes pianist/song-
writer Johnny Iguana. “I like how it cap-
tures the punk spirit mixed with silky,
jazzy sounds we employ. But it’s still not
perfect. It’s admittedly hard to define, and
that causes music-biz problems. How
about, ‘Hard to name, easy to love’ as a
band slogan?” “No, wait,” says Iguana
with a laugh. “That stinks.”
The Claudettes began in 2011 as a
piano-drums duo by Iguana and Michael
Caskey, both of whom are veterans of
Chicago post-punk legends oh my god.
The pair was initially an instrumental
endeavor with a theatrical component,
posing as an evicted barkeeper’s house
band willing to play anywhere, anytime.
The Claudettes thrilled listeners at Buddy
Guy’s Legends and confused shoppers at a
Staples office supply store. They refined
their formula, adding singer/dancer Yana
Atim for 2015’s No Hotel album. Caskey
was called away in early 2016, and Atim
departed that same year. Iguana went
through another pair of drummers. More
on the drummers later.
Later in 2016, however, the pieces
began falling into place by both kinds of
luck. Good fortune brought Iguana into
contact with singer Berit Ulseth. The band
released a third album DANCE SCANDAL
AT THE GYMNASIUM! (helmed by
Grammy-winning Black Keys producer
Mark Neill) in 2018. “I had known drum-
mer Matt Torre from yet another one of my
bands, Software Giant,” says Iguana.
20 illinoisentertainer.com march 2020
“Matt told me that he had also been in a
country band and that the band’s backup
singer was woefully underutilized. He
said she was a magnificent singer back
there in the shadows.” Both Berit and Matt
joined The Claudettes for the DANCE
SCANDAL album. Matt soon left and was
replaced by Danny Yost, a longtime friend
and bandmate of Claudettes bassist/gui-
tarist (and additional oh my god alumnus)
Zach Verdoorn.
Bad luck removed Danny Yost from the
drum throne due to health issues, paving
the way for Caskey’s nonetheless welcome
return. “A whole lot of heartache and
drama led us right back to where we start-
ed, with me and Michael Caskey together
in The Claudettes,” says Iguana. “But this
is a ‘two peas in a pod’ situation. I don’t
have to explain any musical ideas to
Michael. Our sound together really is The
Claudettes. That was the original idea for
the band: me being me in a bluesy way on
acoustic piano, and him being him with all
his chops and personality, both of which
are outsized and prodigious.”
The stabilized Claudettes lineup has
built power during two years of steady
work and hard miles, producing its crown-
ing achievement. Fourth album **High
Times in the Dark is packed with memo-
rable melodies, stunning performances,
and stories that are witty and wise, as well
as touching and timely. “We are aware of
the dark mood of these days,” says Iguana.
“Despite that, we’re determined to cele-
brate the things and people we love. We’re
going to have fun.”
The Claudettes will introduce High
Times in the Dark with an album release
show at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn on Friday,
April 3. “I find myself increasingly writing
songs in the thematic vein of the Flaming
Lips’ "Do You Realize?" Songs that cele-
brate–not mourn–the precious, fragile,
ephemeral nature of our most important
alliances like marriages and bands. I want
people to try to remember to be romantic
and loving and thankful during such blips
in time.”
For the first time, Iguana wrote songs
specifically for Ulseth’s voice. “I’ve really
gotten to know her sweet spots in terms of
octave range and what kinds of phrases to
accent or avoid,” he says. “It makes the
demos so exciting for me to see songs
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