The Zen Buddhist term shoshin translates to “beginner’s mind,” and refers to maintaining an open, eager attitude when approaching a task or studying a subject.
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few,” writes Zen master Shunryu Suzuki in his book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
Get a guide to the region’s booming music scene
Subscribe to the St. Louis Music newsletter to discover upcoming concerts, local artists to watch, and more across an eclectic playlist of genres.
If we apply the concept to music, then the recorded catalog of Chicago’s seminal experimental indie rock band Cheer-Accident illustrates beginner’s mind perfectly. From song to song, listeners can never be certain where the band might take them next. In that sense, Cheer-Accident’s music might constitute a genre unto itself.
“Each song is an adventure,” explains founding drummer, vocalist, and trumpet player Thymme Jones, with an unsettling echo permeating the phone call. “We get somewhere in the end, and that’s exciting. I definitely welcome danger. We’re still open to letting things happen.”
This year, the band released Chicago XX, its 20th LP, currently available only on vinyl. Fragrant whiffs of Stereolab, Herb Alpert, Chuck Mangione, and The Strawberry Alarm Clock drift in and out of the album’s approachable, angular rock ‘n’ roll insistence. The result is a heady blend of tonal styles and rhythmic modes, perfumed with lilting falsetto vocal lines that can be described as both angelic and addled. Listeners will notice a refreshing lack of the disgruntled cynicism and angst that characterizes so much indie rock.
“I don’t think we’re cynical at all,” says Jones, with the odd echo persisting in the call. “I think there’s a danger in conflating being critical with being cynical. We definitely are critical at times. I believe that almost all of our music has a certain level of critique embedded in it, you know, like asking questions about the medium that we’re working with then. I think we’re getting at things rather than running away from things.”
St. Louis fans of Cheer-Accident can rejoice: The band returns to the Schlafly Tap Room for a free show this Friday, with esteemed local acts The Conformists and Maximum Effort rounding out the bill. Cheer-Accident’s live sets can be as unpredictable as its recorded output, so it’s anyone’s guess as to what the touring-quintet version of the band will do.
“I’ve always thought we were pursuing what made sense for us to pursue,” says Jones gleefully from within the sonic shroud of maddening reverberations that rattled the call. “We explore our own context and language. That’s the best thing about a band or any sort of artistic endeavor, seeing what you can come up with as a group of specific individuals.”
As the interview closed, we had to ask: What is that damnable echo?
“I’m in the bathtub at my mom’s house,” reveals Jones with an audible shrug. “It’s where I do most of my communicating these days.”
Cheer-Accident plays Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust) at 9 p.m. on Friday.
