Chairlift

Chairlift is an American synth-pop and indie pop group from Boulder, Colorado, active from 2005 to 2017. The band consists of Caroline Polachek, Patrick Wimberly and Aaron Pfenning. Polachek handles vocals and keyboards, Wimberly plays bass and drums, and Pfenning contributes guitar, synths and vocals. Pfenning leaves the group in 2010, but remains part of its original line-up.

Formation and early development

The group forms in Boulder in the mid-2000s and originally makes live music for haunted houses. The members spend time around the Broker Inn on the edge of town, where late-night jazz shows and the building’s dark, old-fashioned decor influence their sense of style and atmosphere. They later relocate to Brooklyn in the summer of 2006 and continue developing a sound described as hypnotic with a tongue-in-cheek edge while playing shows in Brooklyn and on the Lower East Side.

Releases

Chairlift’s first release on Kanine is Evident Utensil, issued on 7-inch vinyl with a remix by MGMT. Their first full-length album, Does You Inspire You, appears on Kanine Records in 2008. The follow-up, Something, is completed in 2011 and released in 2012. It is recorded between New York and London, with production from Alan Moulder and Dan Carey; Carey also mixes most of the album. The singles Amanaemonesia, Sidewalk Safari and Met Before precede the album. The band’s third and final album, Moth, is released in 2016 and is preceded by the single Ch-Ching.

End of the band

Chairlift announces its breakup in December 2016 and plays a final tour in spring 2017.