Around Hear: March 2011

Local Band Reviews

Logan Square’s Love Raid carry on a tradition of Chicago bands who have an affinity for Brit-Pop of all eras, ranging from Village Green-era Kinks (“Superstar Serenade”) to Pulp (“Present Tense”), and Parklife-era Blur (“We’re The Ones,” “Past The Waves”), and more than a dollop of David Bowie. Like some of their Anglo heroes, Love Raid becomes a little self-indulgent at moments with an overdose of Moog-ish space rock, but everything else about this self-titled debut is spot-on. (www.loveraid.us)
— David Gedge

Pun-loving electro/hip-hop duo Boomjuice follows the Crunk In Public EP with Mixing In Action — nine sample-happy tracks that end up in the neighborhood of Handsome Boy Modeling School. Presented in mixtape format and drawing on beats from Pete Rock and Art Of Noise to local crew Prepschool, it’s like any good mix: the rapping and editing is on equal footing with the source tapes, and shows the pair trying on all manner of shoes but none too large. (www.boomjuice.net)
— Steve Forstneger

Just as its name hearkens to the reference-book authority of the ’60s, the music on The Britannicas‘ eponymous disc likewise reaches back to that post-Hootenanny era when folk started blending with rock and pop with groups like the We Five and New Christy Minstrels, and achieving electric apogee with The Byrds by mid-decade. With three experienced multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriters (from three continents, no less) and all the aforementioned — along with a dash of Brit invasion here and a splash of Beach Boys there — pedigree, The Britannicas’ debut would be slam-dunk brilliant save for lyrical sore thumbs (“Should have been taking it cool/all the alcohol making me drool”) that pop up at the darnedest times. (www.myspace.com/thebritannicas)
— David C. Eldredge

There’s nothing disappointing about Caw Caw‘s Bummer Palace (Trust Tapes). Ragged, boisterous tunes crackle with surging melodies and exuberant catharsis. “Toothless” storms out of the gates as propulsive, post-punk crunch exchanges pops with incisive guitar squall and roiling bass. “Basement Apparitions” hums with a pulsating, shoegazing swirl before snapping alertly with scissor-snapping riffs, and benefits from bittersweet lyrics that snarl with wit and charm. (myspace.com/cawcawmusic)
— Patrick Conlan

Bands have sketched myriad schemes to add muscle to pop punk, and Danger Is My Middle Name has chosen the misogyny route for the Giant Killer EP. Dismissing dates as “fucking crazy” and vaguely threatening “I swear you’ll be seeing stars” goes against the declared effort to make this a more “mature” and “fun” offering. A guitar-heavy, compressed mix makes cardboard of the drums — perhaps something DIMMN should look into the next time it bulks up. (www.dimmn.com)
— Kevin Keegan

With a prolonged stint in Them Damn Kids on his resume, Chris Darby‘s initial solo effort, Road Songs, is a concise, four-song EP of varied acoustic folk. There’s a hint of Celtic melody in “Thursday’s Child,” and American bluegrass peeks through the dusty, windswept “Night To Night.” The instrumentation lends a soft, cottony weight to these songs — a warbling bass rumbles with patient authority as harmonica and a gracefully plucked guitar line skips in lilting counterpoint in “Road Song.” (www.chrisdarby.com)
— Patrick Conlan

At turns delicate, communal, lo-fi, and organic, Dreamend‘s So I Ate Myself Bite By Bite (Graveface) stays engagingly off balance. The band accentuates a preponderance of banjo and percussively strummed acoustic guitars with analog synth gurgles, gang vocals, and sheets of noise that creates an image of tech-savvy woodland dwellers. While the bulk of the 41 minutes pump a seesaw that balances on a Califone/Akron-Family axis, it’s the blistering, 10-minute closer (“An Admission”) that burns the preceding tracks alive. (dreamend.tumblr.com)
— Steve Forstneger

There’s no rest for the wicked during the hour-plus running time of Ezurate‘s Eve Of Desecration (Rotting Corpse). With a blistering, black-metal assault, Ezurate tears through Destruction armed with hyper-charged blast beats and ripping guitars. When Ezurate varies the tempo and structure of the tracks, such as in “Overthrown Deity” and the standout “The Black Cross Of Berziers,” it conjures harrowing black magic. Otherwise, the sheer density and relentless pacing has a numbing effect by album’s end. (www.myspace.com/ezurate)
— Patrick Conlan

Really chill jazz with a silky undercurrent dominates Outside The Box, an eight-track CD from John Goldman’s Quadrangle. Goldman, on sax and flute, has assembled a top-shelf lineup of musicians on guitar, bass, trombone, and percussion. Airy vocalization from Leslie Beukelman (and scat on “Color Therapy”) adds depth to each track, with a Latin bent on some. The talent crystallizes most notably on “Hesse Steps” with its playful horn, guitar, and vocal interplay. (www.jgjazz.com)
— Jason Scales

Long-time area vets, The Greenwoods‘ debut, Solid State, conjures comparisons to The Who — especially in the interplay/sound of the drums and bass. While the vocals are as serviceable as Daltrey’s this late in his career, neither the aspirational power chordings of the guitar leads nor strictly schemed rhymes of the lyrics would ever be mistaken for those of Townshend. (www.greenwoodsmusic.com)
— David C. Eldredge

Opening and closing to the sound of a scratchy piece of vinyl, Honest Engines‘ (not so long ago known as Levels) three-song EP, Captain’s Log, finds the trio hearkening to Space Oddity-era Bowie on its eponymous opening ballad. It continues on a similarly spacy plane with “Asteroid” before it finally lands back on the captain theme of being adrift on a sinking ship on “Void.” There are lots of ambitious, textural aspirations on display that belie the three-musician format. But as honest as these engines may be, one’s left not being completely sure what all the spinning is about. (www.tandemshoprecords.com)
— David C. Eldredge

The Jin And Tonic Band sounds like a mash-up of country favorites Lady Antebellum and Sugarland with Tex Mex men Los Lonely Boys, though it kills the polish of commercial country radio in favor of gritty grooves. With lead singer duties split between two girls and a guy, there’s plenty of variety on Said Yes Once, though lyrically the group suffers from standard country clichés that detract from the otherwise adventurous musical backdrop. (www.jinandtonicband.com)
— Andy Argyrakis

Setting aside a Dixieland-ish/vintage swing foray and only one instance with any real rock feel, the otherwise mostly progressive/neo-experimental compositions sextet Kelroy delivers on Bloodshot Hungry Paranoid are difficult to fully wrap one’s arms/ears/head around. While the strings of guest players bring welcome occasions of textural warmth and the keys (especially) and brass of Kelroy-ian Vince Panepinto are exceptionally engaging, the jeremiad vocals serve only to otherwise disengage, leaving the listener’s thoughts to wander away. (www.kelroymusic.com)
— David C. Eldredge

Maybe it’s because it sounds more relaxed doing it, but Level Ground‘s bedroom creep rings much more true than its street hustle. It introduces “Hop Tonight” with “This is just another silly love song,” but that’s what MCs Herb and Seagram do best, peeling back the awkward seriousness that sinks most hip-hop slow jams. It’s when LG gets another kind of hard on The Target that the beats and rhymes come lacking, almost is if the duo knew how perfunctory those sounded while it was recording them. (levelgroundworld.blogspot.com)
— Kevin Keegan

Classic rock and grunge collide on Model Stranger‘s Dreams & Bones for a sound that’s just as reminiscent of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers as it is Pearl Jam. The dusty jam “Turn Of The Century” is a primary example of that seamless blending, while “Eyes Half Open” is a rollicking retro throwback and “Carousel” sounds like it could’ve come straight out of the ’90s, though it avoids the dated feel thanks to an alt-country undertow. (www.modelstranger.com)
— Andy Argyrakis

It’s not always possible to tell what’s going on during the 12 off-kilter songs that make up The Nod‘s debut CD, Easy, Maverick, but this trio of Wisconsinites is a lot of fun. Vocalist/guitarist Brett Newski’s absurd lyrics are set to catchy bar-band arrangements on songs like “She’s A Wreck,” in which a guy is stalked by a loose woman who wants to have sex with all his friends, but not him. (www.thenodmusic.com)
— Terrence Flamm

Alexander James Powers sets his observations on life and spirituality to easy-going acoustic arrangements on his eight-song Sounds Of The Amateur. The lyrics tend toward obvious sentiments, particularly on the cloying love song, “Like The Chicago Cubs,” but Powers keeps things entertaining with his inventive strumming. “Lisa,” a song about finding fulfillment in helping others, distinguishes itself as the CD’s best track. (www.myspace.com/alexanderjamespowers)
— Terrence Flamm

With opener “Terrorball” flashing the influence of both Local H and industrial rock, Room 101 leaves little doubt about its geographic origins. But The Gadfly EP has more to offer than shirtsleeve influences: namely, heaping mounds of paranoia. Whether zeroing on “CCTV” or running voice-altered clips from Network, the band surrounds its machine-addled anthems with enough big-brotherisms to send you running for your Noam Chomsky reader. (www.room101music.org)
— Steve Forstneger

On Portrait Of Jack Johnson, veteran Chicago jazz bassist/guitarist Karl E. H. Seigfried creates original instrumentals that deftly explore traditional and avant garde jazz. The 11 tracks are divided between “The Boxing Bassist Suite” — a tribute to boxers who were also musicians — and “Portraits In Jazz,” a tip of the hat to the great jazz artists he’s played with over the years. Seigfried is joined by Greg Ward on alto saxophone and Frank Rosaly on drums. (myspace.com/karlehseigfried)
— Terrence Flamm

T & The Wonder has a breezy groove running through its self-titled CD, starting with the Latin-flavored “Eight-Six.” “Let’s Go” celebrates the joys of summer, while the clever “Tote Bag” uses a tropical arrangement to describe a guy saddled with an instant roommate. The acoustic “Goodbye For Now” sports harmonies straight out of an early-’60s folk song. The indie band’s eagerness to try just about anything results in a few disjointed tracks, but overall, its success rate is impressive. (tandthewonder.wordpress.com)
— Terrence Flamm

Two Ton Anvil‘s self-titled album on Dark Star is another worthy addition to the Windy City’s pantheon of crushing hard rock, with tight vocal harmonies and thick, headbanging riffs. Feel the power of a the blistering riff attack rip through your bones as TTA take you on raw, molten ride in the title track and the standout cut, “The Wicked.” Full credit to vocalists/guitarists Chris Chubb and Brian Ericson for the razor-sharp production and engineering — this album explodes out of the speakers with polish and precision. (www.myspace.com/twotonanvil)
— Patrick Conlan

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