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By Michael Swanger scenescribe@mchsi.com

Fantasy of Chevelle’s ‘Sci-Fi Crimes’ rooted in reality

Rumors of Chevelle’s abduction by aliens have been greatly exaggerated, despite the title and song selection of the melodically crunchy rock band’s latest album, “Sci-Fi Crimes,” featuring tunes like “Roswell” and “Highland’s Apparition.” If anything, the band’s new album is grounded in earthly matters informed by aliens, UFOs and sci-fi junkies.

“The record is more about people who have had sci-fi crimes perpetrated against them,” said drummer Sam Loeffler, who is joined by singer-guitarist-brother Pete Loeffler and their brother-in-law-bassist Dean Bernardini [who replaced brother Joe Loeffler in 1995].
The album’s title was inspired by some off-road adventures in Australia with a friend who believes in UFOs, Loeffler said.

“He was impressed that we were from Chicago because apparently O’Hare Airport has had the most UFO sightings,” he said. “We were like, ‘Duh, it’s an airport.’ he made us laugh about the whole UFO thing, and that’s when we started toying with the idea of writing songs about it.”

“Roswell,” with its refrain, “Does anybody ever really see anything?” was influenced by the band’s visit to the Roswell International UFO Museum & Research Center in New Mexico. And “Highland’s Apparition” is about the time brothers Sam and Pete spent living in an alleged haunted house, where an overall eerie vibe and at least one instance of unexplained physical contact took place.

“The whole thing kind of played out when Dean said he had a painting that he was working on that he could make into a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing with flying saucers and skeletons,” Loeffler said of the album’s artwork drawn by Chevelle’s bassist. “It all just worked out.”

So, too, have the songs that deal with more earthly matters. “Jars,” the album’s first single is one of the band’s biggest hits and has become their seventh Top 5 single at rock radio. [Formed in 1995, Chevelle over the years has scored chart-toppers “Send the Pain Below” and “Vitamin R (Leading Us Along).”] “Jars” has also spawned two videos, the first version, which airs regularly on MTV 2 and MTVU, and a second version available on Yahoo.com that allows fans to choose from 15 different endings that the band filmed.

“I like the version where the guy dies in the end,” Loeffler said of the original “Jars” video. “That’s what rock ‘n’ roll is all about.”

Songs like “Letter From a Thief” and the opening number, “Sleep Apnea,” reflect even more sobering, real-life experiences. The first tune stems from an incident during their last tour when someone stole their trailer filled with instruments. Fortunately, the band eventually retrieved most of the stolen goods, including a precious guitar custom made for Pete.

“One of the guitars we got back was a special baritone Paul Reed Smith made for Pete that was built a certain way for certain songs that we couldn’t play while it was missing,” Loeffler said. “A guy bought it on the street in Houston for $500. He read the back of the guitar where it said it was custom made for Pete. So he looked up Pete’s name on the Internet and returned it to him. He didn’t want anything in return, including the $500 he was out; he just wanted to do something nice, which was great.

“It’s a pretty good subject for a song. For all the bad things that happen in the world there are some pretty good things that happen, too.”

Songs, whether they are inspired by real life events or fantasy, Loeffler said, are everywhere. Art, he said is in the eye of the beholder, which is why he is happy that fans have embraced “Sci-Fi Crimes” despite its departure from Chevelle’s previous, more mainstream subject matter.

“We write melodic rock songs that inspire us and we try to put a little art into them,” Loeffler said. “That’s why Pete’s lyrics are so thought-out. They’re not just about him. We like to put out the idea that there is art in a lot of things if you want to see it that way.” CV