The beauty of the Midwest lies in its pure simplicity. TEXTBOOK, a rock band from Addison, IL strives to create music in this same light. It isn’t showy or groundbreaking, the lyrics are free prose, but it is straightforward and honest and for that reason, it is beautiful. Dennis Lysien’s lyrics read like a journal of Midwest middleclass life. In TEXTBOOK he finds both an outlet for his troubles and an escape from the drudgery of real life. Lysien’s methodology is simple, why use metaphors and similes to convey loneliness and a broken heart when you can just come out and say it. Never once does the frankness make him seem like a weak lyricist, instead it makes him sound more genuine then most of today’s youth oriented mall-punk/emo scene. The straight forward mid tempo rock that accompanies Lysien’s lyrics takes a similar minimalist approach. Think LIMBECK sans the country influence. Even when the band goes above and beyond the standard 4/4 accompanied by a basic chord progression, the moments still seem fitting and in no way overdone. Even the blistering METHADONES influenced solo that opens “Take What You’ve Been Given” seems like something that belonged in the song as opposed to lead guitarist Tommy Przybylinski’s attempt to channel his inner Van Halen. In the same way that you sometimes avoid the extravagantly interesting Chunky Monkey to have a plain scoop of Vanilla, TEXTBOOK offers a pleasant alternative to over-involved music. Textbook will never be your favorite band or a multi-platinum band, but they will always be a band of four genuine guys that love and make really good music.

Playing Field

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