New Chai: “Fashionista”

Chai can lock in just as well as they can get wild. The quartet’s biggest online hits thus far have been nervy rock numbers that see them zipping from idea to idea, unafraid of a jarring shift. “Fashionista,” from upcoming album Punk, shows off the other side, the one grounded in repetition and gradual change. “Fashionista” revolves around a Blondie-esque funk melody that stomps ahead alongside some vocal scatting and a slightly muffled lead vocal. You get a nice hook, and then go back and…then everything gets a little more hurried. Voices topple over one another, and then everything gets a little looser as guitars and drums get a bit more wobbly as well, leading to a blown-out final segment. Yet despite everything coming to near collapse, “Fashionista” stays upright thanks to a solid grounding. Listen above.