Great music has always resulted from chance happenings.

What if George Beauchamp never questioned if an electric guitar was possible? What if the MC5 had enough funds to record its debut in a studio, as opposed to releasing a live album? What if Bernard Sumner chose to hang it all up after Ian Curtis’ death, instead of asking, “How does it feel?” What if Beck’s mother hadn’t spent time in Andy Warhol’s factory?

Countless times, the most brilliant moments in rock history play out like a series of fateful encounters and near misses. As if each wrong move results in the opportunity to make a correct one, and each apparent right choice uncovers more roadblocks.

So is the case with Troubled Hubble’s “Making Beds In A Burning House.” The Chicago-area quartet’s Lookout! Records debut comes together perfectly in rock’n’roll’s right-place-right-time spirit.

What if The Beatles never sang about a yellow submarine, thus never setting the precedent for bands to stay credible after name checking silly vessels? What if the Dismemberment Plan never split and guitarist Jason Caddell didn’t now share time producing records? What if Troubled Hubble front man Chris Otepka didn’t shatter his ankle jumping from a second story balcony mid-show, resulting in almost a year of pent-up boredom, depression and a notebook chalked full of lyrics?

If all these things didn’t happen, then “Making Beds” wouldn’t have happened. At least not the way it did.

But these things happened, and what resulted is a brilliant equilibrium of quirky indie rock esthetics (“Floribraska”), embraceable pop dynamics (“Nancy”), gracious highs (“I’m Pretty Sure I Can See Molecules”), frightening lows (“Even Marathon Runners Need To Nap”), chunky guitars (“Bees”), Eleanor Rigby strings (“Safe & Sound”), stick-in-your-head choruses (“To Be Alive And Alone”), rolling bass lines (“14,000 Things To Be Happy About”) and sonic arrangements (“Get Lost”).

The albums 13 road-weary tracks play like a tourist map of the country and a how-to for personal survival. Musically, it rings out like a catchy, guitar band unabashedly aware of current audiences and growingly comfortable with potential ones.

No, “Making Beds In A Burning House” is not as groundbreaking as Radiohead’s “The Bends,” not as surprisingly honest as Weezer’s blue album, and only time will tell if it ages as timelessly as The Beatles’ “Revolver.”

But at this time and place, it is all anybody could ask for.

DerekWright.net, May 19, 2005