Cheer-Accident at the Hideout - Concert preview

Any band’s sound is bound to mutate over three decades. What’s remained consistent over Cheer-Accident’s marathon run is an offbeat sense of humor. The title of the long-running local group’s latest, No Ifs, Ands or Dogs, drives that point home. Beyond the yuks and guffaws, you’ll find some of the most challenging pop music coming out of Chicago, the startling sincerity of which throws another curveball at unsuspecting listeners. Bandleader Thymme Jones frames his warped wit in often earnest melodies. He’s got a croon that even Manilow would sign off on. That his drumming nods to Neil Peart makes him something of a modern Karen Carpenter, minus the body issues.

The new disc follows in the vein of Cheer-Accident’s recent art-rock efforts, spiked with avant-garde flourishes and proggy detours. A few new textures are tossed into the merry mayhem. The synthy “Trial of Error” smacks of electro and even a little reggae. The tender piano trot “Cynical Girl,” a love song delivered with a perpetually winking eye, is a surprisingly soulful dispatch no matter how knotty it seems. Seventeen albums in, Cheer-Accident risks resembling a never-ending inside joke more than a band, but damned if it doesn’t keep us waiting for the punch line.