Eli Aleinikoff of Monkeybars may originally be from D.C. but his origins sound New Orleanian all the way. Experiencing mostly jazz while growing up, the now New Yorker says his “big heroes” were Sonny Rollins (makes sense), John Coltrane, Joe Henderson (another jazz tenor), and Paul Carr, Aleinikoff’s jazz teacher who is well known in the D.C. circle as an educator, saxophonist, and festival organizer. The Monkeybars founder says despite his jazz roots, he listens to “lots” these days, depending on which day of the week.

Speaking of his latest work with Monkeybars, titled Empirical Allover Style, the D.C. native says he listened to a lot of Prince, Sade, Talking Heads, and 1970s Eno while composing his Bandcamp release. At first pass, one might compare his jazz dreamscapes infused with pop to Love and Rockets and Aztec Camera, even though the composer might not necessarily draw these comparisons.

“I always feel weird citing influences because i would never want to be listed alongside the artists I most admire. [It’s] not a measure of modesty or anything like that — I just feel it’s misleading.  If i heard someone citing bowie and then listened and it sounded like my music i would feel that i had been tricked! And unforgivably!“ he states.

The Monkeybars project was born out of an acquisition of what the composer and singer cites as “sick synths” that inspired him to create “groovy music” instead of “sad, confessional music.” He enlisted the help of best friend Sahil Ansari for constructive criticism. The two now share a studio but will part ways at the end of the month due to covid-related issues. 

At first blush, the track “Easy Tiger” stands out with a strong jazz-influenced opening that could remind one of later Wild Nothing. But the songs on the EP are all vocally distanced with multi-layered instruments that smartly lace dreampop through the fingers of jazz. Empirical Allover Style is atmospheric sound design at its best that’s perhaps not pushing the envelope, but making a new one altogether.

Stream and purchase Empirical Allover Style here.