Chicago Reader
January 27, 2005 – Bob Mehr

It'd be easy to cast Gaberdine front man and onetime coffee shop crooner Mark Federighi as a poor man's Bill Callahan; they share a taste for fitful chamber pop and somnambulant vocals. But on Thin Wire Transport, Gaberdine's self-released debut full-length, the band out-Smogs Smog, flitting between dour string-laden pop and gloomy lo-fi country to create a convincingly lachrymose din. Across the 14 tracks on the album, lyrical gravitas is married to intricate melody, which frequently comes from a variety of offbeat instruments, from kazoo to toy piano. The careering, occasionally ramshackle arrangements only heighten the despairing mood. This show is a release party for Thin Wire Transport; Stephanie Morris & the Rest open. 9 PM, Schubas