Chris Staples – Cheap Shades

A phenomenally dexterous guitarist, Chris Staples has spent much of his career so far as a backing musician for other artists. Over the years he’s played with J. Tillman, later known as Father John Misty, and toured the world as a member of Telekinesis. Never content for long, Staples also travels on his own, never settling, never staid. A seasoned carpenter, he sustains his journeyman lifestyle by working construction jobs wherever he finds himself living. In the spring of 2014, having recently decamped to the Northwest, Chris Staples happened to do some work on the home of Josh Rosenfeld, co-founder and head of Seattle’s renowned Barsuk Records.

Staples’ songs are, in the tradition of the best songwriters, fantastically economical. No moment is wasted, no idea indulged beyond necessity. Instrumental breaks occur but don’t linger, serving their purpose and slipping quickly back into verses. American Soft features only a single traditional bridge, on the straight-ahead almost-rocker “Needle Park,” which finishes with a short dual-guitar explosion, an explosion which ends suddenly, as suddenly as it began, a fleeting moment leaves us wanting more, always more, in the best way. Chris Staples has devoted the whole of his life to fostering that illusive magic, to passing it on, to giving and giving ‘til it’s all gone. Fortunately for us, he’s only just begun.