@ Schubas, Chicago, January 12
by Andrew Clayman
Published in Chicago Innerview, January 2008
Known by day as the mild-mannered “Mr. Vallet,” special education teacher at Roosevelt High School, Jim Vallet lives a somewhat secretive double life as the equally mild-mannered frontman of Track a Tiger, one of Chicago’s most promising indie-pop outfits.
Like many bands in the modern DIY era, Track a Tiger began with Vallet hammering out some lovely acoustic ruminations in four-track solitude back in 2003. Eventually, he upgraded his technology and invited quite a few friends along, including several other members of Roosevelt’s musically gifted faculty. The additional manpower led to the production of two lovely albums, 2006’s Woke Up Early the Day I Died and 2007’s We Moved Like Ghosts. Like any good teacher, Vallet understands how the past influences the present, but Track a Tiger’s reference points sometime emerge more in mood than in style: think Yo La Tengo’s “Autumn Sweater,” Whiskeytown’s “Don’t Be Sad,” or The Sea & Cake’s “The Sporting Life.”
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