 by Rob van Alstyne
Chris Koza crafts “smart” songs. The kind of brainy tunesmithery that rewards repeated listens and offers no easy answers. Rather than marrying his affecting, oblique lyricism to the expected musical accoutrements of the moment (arty angular post-punk perhaps?), Koza knocks the listener off balance by pairing his avant-garde lyrical inclinations with precise folk-pop melodies of a largely traditional bent delivered in a clear, pleasing tenor, recalling ’70s singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne and Paul Simon in the process.
 Patterns
is the first release by Koza since his breakout year on the local scene in 2005
saw him go from virtually unknown to winner of the Minnesota Music Academy’s
best New Artist Award in the span of 12 months, as word of mouth saw critics
and fans alike discovering the riches of his 2004 debut, Exit Pesce.
Following through on the promise exhibited by Koza’s debut, Patterns
at points evokes the feel of its predecessor (the solo acoustic strum-along
“Candle in the Dark”) while also staking plenty of new ground (the
full band bass-driven “Family Gun”).
“I think it’s really important not to repeat yourself,” says
Koza, 26, who, when not crafting immaculate song structures, occasionally picks
up a pen and offers visual arts criticism for Pulse. “When I look at making
my work, I embrace change and approach recording and songwriting from different
perspectives. That’s the reason I took it outside of my bedroom and into
a studio and with a band for this record. I didn’t want to do the same
exact thing as Exit Pesce.”
Much of Patterns was cut live at the famed Pachyderm Studios with the
same group of musicians Koza’s been working with since his college days
(drummer Luke Anderson, bassist Justin Blair and guitarist Peter Anderson).
So while Patterns is the second release from Chris Koza, it also doubles as
the culmination of eight years of work among friends who started off under the
name Katnapping at St. Olaf College in 1997, and continued as Channels up until
recently. Although work and other band commitments have made it more difficult
for Koza to consistently play with his longtime cohorts on stage, the musical
bond they’ve forged over nearly a decade together still rings true on
Patterns.
“Definitely our friendships were the fuel for the music in the first few
years way back when we were in college,” recalls Koza fondly. “The
‘all-hands-in-the-middle, four-musketeers-kind-of-mentality’ was
definitely there. It’s the easiest thing to go up on stage with those
guys. The natural dynamics that are just kind of instinctively there …
when I get soft they do, when I get punctuated they do … it’s pretty
amazing.”
The full band moments on Patterns are instantly striking; the opening
salvos of “Midnight Rose” and “View from a Pier” serve
notice that Koza’s folk-pop muse works just as well within the context
of a full-blooded rock band as it does in his solo troubadour guise. Although
Koza was pleased with the results yielded from working with the band, he re-envisioned
Patterns midway through the project after realizing some of the aspects
that he liked about his first record were getting buried in
the mix.
 “We
had about 16 songs that we planned on tracking originally,” explains Koza,
“and the whole album was being approached with more of a band feel. We
tracked most of the songs live with everyone playing at once and a couple of
songs where I did vocals at the same time. It was going well, but somewhere
along the way I realized that some elements of the first album that I liked
were being covered up. I wanted there to be a wider variety and include some
more stripped down acoustic things as well. I just felt like the record needed
more of a diversity of moods.”
Koza’s decision means that Patterns offers the best of both worlds,
part coffeehouse singer/songwriter solo excursion (the lovely slide-driven “Jellyfish”)
and part grooving folk-pop band experience (the hand clap happy “Fear
of Mimes”). Embracing change while remaining connected to the past reflects
not only Koza’s musical life—part budding solo artist/part longtime
band member—but also his approach to lyric writing. Rarely has a songwriter
penned as achingly affective a goodbye to their late adolescence as Koza does
on “Goldmine,” a portrait of aimless youths and wasted nights (“Calling
all kids to come and stay out/ odes to dying young/ smoking in abandoned lots
with crowded minds and hungry thoughts/ slowly caving in/ time has made it happen”).
On “A Twist of Frayed Ends” he favors bristling bluntness in addressing
a 20-something’s perpetual quest to stay financially and personally above
water (“You’re just the kind of medicine to keep my spirit up/ ‘cause
sometimes when I’m dying you say fuck that other stuff”). It’s
all a far cry from the usual “Why doesn’t she love me/ oh, I really
love her” fare being consistently proffered by lesser songwriting talents.
“I’m just interested in songwriting and working on different areas
of it,” offers Koza when ask about his methods. “Lately with my
lyrics I have been getting a stronger sense of making them a little bit clearer.
I’m not trying to wow anybody with vocabulary; I’m just interested
in trying to define my style and work. For Patterns, though, there
are some lyrically challenging—maybe even confusing— songs.”
What Koza might deem “challenging,” the attentive listener will
find exhilarating. After the CD release party for Patterns, Koza is taking
his show on the road for an ambitious Midwestern solo tour. “I look at
the release party as kind of like a wedding,” explains Koza. “Everyone’s
having fun … but what’s going to happen with the rest of the relationship?
I just want to get out there and perform for as many people as possible and
get the music into as many people’s hands as possible. I want to feel
like I’m doing music [full time] and am a part of that community that
is doing music [full time]—that, to me, is the goal. Whatever happens,
I’m going to give it a go. Then I can decide if I want to continue or
take a different route. As long as I can feel like I gave it a good try, I’m
happy.” ||
The Chris Koza
Band plays the CD release show for Patterns on Sat., Apr. 1 at
the Turf Club with openers Fitzgerald and Coach Said Not To. 9 p.m. $6. 21+.
Corner of University and Snelling Aves., St. Paul. 651-647-0486.
For more information on Chris Koza check out his official website at ChrisKoza.com
or head on over to www.pulsetc.com to download an mp3 of Koza’s song “Midnight
Rose.”
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