Tag Archives: chicago
Secret Colours – Freak Out at Locals Only Jan. 6
Secret Colours
We Are Hex
Learner Dancer
Locals Only
Free
It may have been August of last year when Chicago’s Secret Colours released their self-titled album, but the band is still preaching the gospel of neo-psych fuzz rock. This Thursday, they will spread the good word at Locals Only with We Are Hex. It’s a rare treat for the band to be visiting our city. According to Dave Stach, all of the band members are still in school and touring only happens between classes. “We are invited to do SXSW this year as it falls on our spring break,” said Stach. “We are really looking forward to that.”
Unleashing their sonic bursts of bright and vivid psychedelic rock in a place like Austin is geographically closer to the source of their West Coast sun-soaked psych-art than, say, the Windy City. “Chicago is an unlikely setting for us and that is cool,” he said. “A lot of stuff is popping up all over the city, like The Great Society Mind Destroyers and bands fueled on styles inspired by Spacemen 3 and The Jesus and Mary Chain.”
Luckily for Secret Colours, they did not go to the scene - the scene came to them. “The more we play out, the more we find like-minded groups,” says Stach.
Stach played in several bands prior to establishing Secret Colours with Tommy Evans. From Power Pop to New Wave Punk, Stach has run the gamut, initially playing bass and now guitar. With Evans, he knew things were going to change in a big way. “Tommy got me into the Neo-Psych sound. The Black Angels and Brian Jonestown Massacre. These are great bands.”
The two hit it off and began working together. Evans played Stach a bunch of songs he was sitting on and he was not only impressed with the eight-to-ten songs that were already flushed out, but he immediately envisioned doing something more with them. This is what makes up a majority of their self-titled album. “It was fairly easy to get that sound going,” Stach said. “It’s straightforward and simple chords. The hard part to it is to do it in an original way. It’s really a niche genre with expectations. You have to have a certain guitar sound and a certain reverb. Getting that and making the songs your own, that was difficult.”
The Britpop scene is one of the more surprising influences the band draws from. The group isn’t shy to mention bands like Blur and the Stone Roses as having an effect on their sound. And despite the up-front noisy demeanor, you can hear the soft influences of that ‘90s sound. These soft-spoken touches to their music are what differentiates them from others in the scene. “We are coming from a good place because we skipped that awkward phase. We already had our sound solidified before getting out there and playing live.”
If they felt strong in the beginning, then expect them to pull out all the stops Thursday night with extended versions, spaced-out jams, and a total freak-out party.
Mucca Pazza at The Vollrath (Concert Review)
[Review Written By Danielle Look]
To an ex band geek such as myself (okay, who am I kidding; once a band geek, always a band geek) the allure of a “30 piece circus punk marching band” is instantaneous. To others, the thought of trumpets, saxophones, clarinets, and accordions replacing the traditional assortment of electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums is not one easily entertained. If you fall into this category, joining my camp may take some convincing.
Mucca Pazza is anything but typical. First, consider the size. The size of what? One, the size of the band- 30 members, their respective instruments, and the space required to play them. Two, the size of The Vollrath or, more importantly, the size of The Volrath’s performance stage. With knowledge of the above mentioned elements, one quickly realizes that the equation might be slightly out of balance. Amazingly, at any single point in the performance there were always at least 15 or more musicians playing on stage.
But don’t forget the members who were playing in the audience. Whimsical chaos is Mucca Pazza’s hallmark and nobody does it better than them. Occasionally, they formed a train and followed each other through the group of spectators as the leader darted front to back and left to right, never ceasing to play their horns in lieu of audience interaction. More frequently though, were independent ventures into the crowd rubbing shoulders with fans and blasting notes from their side. Multiple times I felt something brush against my ankle, only to find a trumpeter laying on the ground… still playing his instrument.
There were no vocals during the songs; the massive assortment of instruments did all the singing need. But, staying true to their claim of existence as a marching band, there was a bullhorn. Their drum major used this, instead of a microphone, to communicate with the band and crowd.
The music was grand and had a full body, naturally possessing the comprehensive sound of percussion (snare and bass drums, concert toms, crash cymbals, glockenspiel, and various other percussion toys), brass (sousaphone, trumpet, trombone), and woodwinds (alto & tenor saxophone and clarinet). For musical flare, an electric guitar, mandolin, violin, and accordions were added to the mix. Again demonstrating the atypical nature of the band, they covered everything from 60’s television show themes, rearranged rock tunes, and original compositions to Balkan brass, Czech folk songs, and the works of classical composers.
Mucca Pazza embraces the concept of the band geek identity and they wear it proudly on their sleeve… literally. All were dressed in mismatched and pieced together items of band uniforms past, some of antique quality. The thrift store treasures give the band a slightly cohesive, yet very rustic and nostalgic appearance. My favorite? The clarinet player sporting a blue, traditional jacket covered with all the embellishments; a pleated, navy-colored mini skirt; and thick, white, cat eye glasses.
The Vollrath hadn’t seen this much liveliness since The Woodhands performed in May. Mucca Pazza inhabited that same unique level of quirkiness, coupled with raw talent channeled in an awesomely eccentric way. With Mucca Pazza’s unmatchable twist on the classic concept of a marching band, it was impossible not to dance, jump, scream, and shout. And until they stopped playing and disappeared into the dark depths of the Vollrath’s basement, the sweat-soaked and energy-spent audience did exactly that.
Yourself And The Air – It’s The Music
It takes a certain kind of talent for a band to exist purely on its own merit without some form of gimmick to help establish a band’s identity or market them in hope that it will make someone notice. But for Yourself And The Air, there is nothing flashy about these four guys — Erick Crosby, James David, Drew Rasmussen, Jeff Papendorf, and Nicholas Sinclair — except for the reflection off of their instruments.
This Chicago group defines the pure essence of indie rock with well-crafted songs that stand out on their own and simply use the music to speak for itself. Known for their heavily guitar-driven sound thanks to their debut Hola Mi Cielo and the 2008 release Cold Outside Brings Heavy Thoughts To Think, their latest EP —Friend Of All Breeds — expands their initially-developed sound of early ‘90s alternative guitar rock with a subtle form of shoegaze and adds a degree of atmosphere through the occasional electronic sampling.
“We are a guitar band, and our CDs are very guitar driven,” said Crosby, lead singer. “At the time, I was getting into music with little things in songs you don’t necessarily hear right away, and we decided to incorporate that style into the EP. It’s these little things in the background that help you better relate to the music.”
Coming from Chicago and a scene that launched the careers of Naked Raygun and Jesus Lizard to 90 Day Men, The Promise Ring and Joan Of Arc, it’s only natural for a band like Yourself And The Air to be pushing themselves out of the norm and into the forefront with what Crosby considers a lacking time for the Chicago scene.
“There have been and are so many great bands and artists in this city,” he said. “But lately, I feel like the scene has kind of fallen. We are hoping that we can change that and would like to be apart of changing that.”
However, when it comes down to it, they are their biggest fans, and it’s the music that matters most.
“We don’t put too much into the music we make,” he said. “The music just makes itself. We are not trying to change the world. We just let things be and craft the music into what it naturally becomes.”
Two years in existence as a band, and a longer history as friends, it was this band of brotherhood that became the only real constant and got them through all of their obstacles. No money on tour, a broken-down van, and at times almost broken down mentally, the early days were challenging, but they found ways to move forward and get through it all, from sleeping off of the shore in Virginia to scrounging around for a few bucks for gas just to get to their next show. And even now that they are in a much better place as individuals and a group, the idea that they actually “made it” is still foreign to them.
“The DIY aspect was what captivated us to get our hands dirty,” Crosby said. “You appreciate it more when you book your own shows and work through the issues. This is our first real tour, and we are super excited to see the real business side of it. We are very grateful and realize the position we are in right now as a band. It’s something 80 percent of bands never really get to experience. But we still have a long way to go and want to keep this shit moving because if things don’t move forward than we are doing something wrong.”
Their continued journey will bring them back to Indianapolis to play at The Vollrath on July 30th. This will be their second visit to Indianapolis. Their initial experience was a house show, where a few days prior to their arrival, the area was a murder scene.
“Sometime during the show we were approached by this guy who tried to sell us a gun. He told us that he had to get out of the city because they had done him wrong.”
Let’s hope the only thing that is for sale this time around is the band’s merchandise.
Band’s website: http://www.handsorganics.com/
Scott Fields Ensemble – This That
Scott Fields Ensemble
This That
2001 – Accretions
Origin: Chicago
Style: Free Jazz
On this release, Scott Fields has whittled his “Ensemble” (where the Chicago native- turned Madison, Wisconsin resident calls each of his various collaborations the “Ensemble”) down to a trio: himself as guitarist with Vancouver’s Peggy Lee on cello and Dylan Van Der Schyff with the percussion.
With This That, the whole premise of this album flirts with the idea of what is considered improv and what is actual composed material. Fields performs flawlessly in the attempt that you cannot tell the difference between the two states of musicianship. But even with the blurred lines, you get a sense of structure within these pieces as the sonic architecture is very tight knit and space is given a sense of correlation within the songs.
Fields was influenced by the Art Ensemble of Chicago with the goal to make spontaneous music more controlled and This That is an album that obscures the senses as to what is and what isn’t, as well as what you think could and could not be in the musical stratosphere of free form. An even more electrified version of Derek Bailey (you really get that feeling later on in the album), Fields does what he can to the guitar to build a unique perspective as well as preserving a strong tonal quality to his work, although not quite as textured as Bailey was.
Often compared to Eric Dolphy as noted by both Carl Baugher of Cadence Magazine and Steve Goldstein of Midwest Jazz Magazine (http://www.accretions.com/artists/scott.asp), Fields builds a depth and field that not just compliments but contradicts the cello, skewing the level of reality. Sometimes fighting with one another for the forefront (“This Is This”), while other times playfully meandering between the two instruments and dancing up and down scales (“This Is That”), the three round up a unique conceptualization of the abstract that lies today as the outcast of the Accretions label as Fields has nothing to do with the Trummerflora Collective, but remains as one of Accretions strongest.
Cross-Reference: Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Derek Bailey, Eric Dolphy
Jesus Lizard – Lash
Jesus Lizard
Lash
1993 – Touch and Go
Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Style: Alternative, Indie Rock
It’s often difficult to make claim to the importance of an EP, especially when many of them are used as simple marketing strategies and the exploitation into what became the extended single. But for Jesus Lizard’s Lash — much like the EP Pure in 1989 — this album was as important a release as the full length Liar was the previous year.
Out of Lash came one of their most important songs of their career and the song “Glamorous.”
Jesus Lizard’s ‘Almost Live’ Performance of ‘Glamorous.’
“Glamorous” is not just typical Jesus Lizard prowess, but it single-handedly signifies everything that makes Jesus Lizard great: tight, abrasive, power-prosed time signature. If this stand-out song is not enough to stake claim on Lash being one of the more important indie albums of the ’90s, then the proof that this band can correlate perfectly between a studio and live recording is flawlessly important to the short list of songs.
Most of this almost 17-minute release is taken from live performances in 1990 and 1992 (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gnfyxq8gldde). Not only is the sound equally competitive, but the power and intensity remains high on both ends. The constant insanity of the conveyor-belt bass thrusting on “Monkey Trick” in syncopated time signatures are enough to put you in an unconditional trance. You can feel just how amazing this band works together under strained musical parallels of form and function, control through chaos.
On the other hand, “Killer McHann” is an epileptic fit of a band on loosing it on the edge.
‘Killer McHann,’ Live in New Jersey 1993.
What’s entertaining about a song of this caliber is that David Yow writes lyrics that reads like a cross between English limerick and prose work from Edgar Allan Poe, that is if Poe had been a fan of John Ford films.
These songs give you an emotional road map as to why this band was often seen as “violent and vulgar” during their live performances (http://bitemefanboy.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/notoriously-reckless-occasionally-violent-the-jesus-lizard/), as well as proving their potential in the independent music world that later led to a full-on live release (Show) and eventually the signing on Capitol with a spot on Lollapalooza in the mid-’90s, many say the downfall to the true potential of this band.
Lash may be a quick listen, but it packs a punch, and if you really want to know what made the band in their prime so great, then it is worth digging up this EP.
Cross-Reference: Butthole Surfers, Big Black, and Melvins
