Dig ‘in: Drahla, twin coast, Deep Tunnel Project
Check out what the No Wristbands team is listening to and what’s in our show calendars this month on our latest Dig ‘in.
INCOMING
Drahla - angeltape (Captured Tracks LP)
Incorporating elements of post-punk, prog rock, goth and free jazz, Drahla is a hard band to pinpoint, which might be why front person Luciel Brown simply describes them as “controlled chaos.” Listening to angeltape, the followup to the Leeds band’s 2019 Useless Coordinates LP, is a challenge to equilibrium as sounds attack from all angles. “Is there an angle in which I can align? / Is there some sentiment in which I should resign?” asks Brown in “Lipsync.” The song provides a sense that things are spiraling out of control and no manner of speech can begin to make sense of it. “Under The Glass” is a call for resistance in the fight against complacency. Chris Duffin’s sputtering sax reinforces the sense of discord with maelstrom capacity. When Brown announces “Gravitational pull, it just got stronger” in “Talking Radiance” it rings out as a warning for the instrumental assault that follows as Duffin spars with the rest of the band. New guitarist Ewan Barr provides an effective counterpoint to Brown’s staccato strumming with choral tones on the intoxicating “Default Parody.” Brown has noted that angeltape “was built on a foundation of insular inspiration.” Getting a glimpse of Drahla’s collective creative mind has never been quite so fascinating! -Bruce Novak
twin coast - noie! noie! noie! (self-released EP)
With a complete year under their belts, Chicago siblings Reid and Kira Isbell of twin coast have already traversed an adventuresome amalgam of sounds. Their initial four-song EP ventured into ambient textures with a narcotic-like haze. Subsequent recordings, all self-produced by the pair, have run the spectrum form dream pop to white noise. Their latest EP, the five-track noie! noie! noie!, effectively blends all these elements into a compressed sonic symphony. The opener, “try to finally,” is a soaring shoegaze anthem with Reid Isbell’s murky vocals giving it a ghostly presence. The follow-up, “forget to know,” is an agro-noise assault, closing with a distorted snippet of “Femme Fatale” from feedback pioneers The Velvet Underground. “How we can’t” concludes the effort with crystalline lushness, drifting off into the ethers at its conclusion. Twin coast remain intent on pushing the envelope and their free fall approach makes for an exhilarating jumping off point. -Bruce Novak
Deep Tunnel Project - S/T (Comedy Minus One LP)
Proclaiming their debut album as “a Chicago record,” it’s only fitting that this quartet of scene veterans took on the name Deep Tunnel Project. The infamous civil engineering endeavor designed to deal with the persistent flood and sewage retention issues within this concrete jungle started construction in 1975 and remains partially unfinished and seriously over-budget. Legendary Chicago urban designer Daniel Burnham once exclaimed, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.”
Deep Tunnel Project get right to it on the lead track “Connector,” with John Mohr proclaiming: “Our work is never done / Chicago to Calumet / We connect it / I am a connector / What is never finished will never be done.” That last phrase turns up again in both “Elysian Fields” and “Dry Spell,” serving as an overall thematic link about a race against time for the band members who are self aware enough to state that “There’s less road ahead than behind us, but there is still time left to create.” Mohr and drummer Mike Greenlees’ connection dates back to their mid-‘80s NIU days in DeKalb with Blatant Dissent, which later morphed into Tar along with a resettlement in Chicago. Co-guitarist Jeff Dean (Heavy Seas, The Bomb, Dead Ending) and bassist Tim Midyett (Silkworm, Mint Mile, Bottomless Pit) are also admitted Chicago lifers.
The presence of “The City of Big Shoulders” permeates throughout the record, from geographical references down to the Naked Raygun Pezzati-inspired “whoah chorus” on “Elysian Fields.” Eleventh Dream Days’ Rick Rizzo delivers a blistering guitar lick on “Gold Standard,” which takes issue with the post-World War II Bretton Woods monetary system that fostered US imperialism. “Chapter Verse Overture” (with guest backing vocals from Rachel Drew), “When I Hit The Ground” and “Sweetest Bells” are among the most nakedly vulnerable lyrics that Mohr has penned to date. The album comes full circle with the closing cover of Breaking Circus’ “Took a Hammering”—a song written by Chicago-raised Steve Björklund, who also spearheaded Strike Under and delivered the first release (Immediate Action EP) for Wax Trax Records in 1981. Midyett steps in on vocals here and battling to the point of exhaustion it remains clear that Deep Tunnel Project can take a licking and, yes almighty, keep on ticking! -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Mint Mile
Where: Fitzgerald’s / Directions
When: April 20, 8:00 PM
Over the last decade, Mint Mile has been the primary musical outlet for Tim Midyett to take stock of what it means to navigate life in a fractured society. The former Silkworm and Bottomless Pit frontman is now in his mid-50s and is satisfied to live in the moment, taking life as it comes. The band’s latest record, Roughrider, released this past February on Comedy Minus One, offers a reflection on the experiential moments that provide context and purpose. The alt-country strains and orchestral touches gives the music a warmness and settled-in feel, offering an embrace and reaching out for connection. Mint Mile recording sessions have increasingly taken on a semblance of communal affairs and I would suspect that this performance would be nothing short of the same. -Bruce Novak
Slaughter Beach, Dog
Where: Space / Directions
When: April 21, 5:00 PM (early show) 8:30 PM (late show)
Philadelphia’s Slaughter Beach, Dog is heading to Evanston fresh off of last year’s excellent (and reviewed in Dig ‘in’s 10/2/23 write-up!) alt-country leaning Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling. As noted previously, one of the many reasons to go see Slaughter Beach, Dog right is to see the epic 9-minute show stopper “Engine.” The track moves along at a deliberate churning pace before opening up to a bed of synth and keys on which guitar explorations rest. It feels ethereal; it could come apart at any moment, but for this moment it is holding together and it’s perfect. The thing that is exciting about the opportunity to see the band is to witness the evolution of their music. They started out of the remnants of the 4th-wave emo band Modern Baseball, and over the years they’ve evolved into a well-oiled machine capable of playing just about anything from the rollicking “Acolyte” to more rocking “Monsters” to character study “Bobcat Club.” What started as an early solo project of Jake Ewald to break up some writer’s block has truly transformed into a true band with all the pieces fitting together seamlessly. -Mark Joyner
Sheer Mag
Where: Sleeping Village / Directions
Empty Bottle / Directions
When: April 27, 9:00 PM
April 28, 9:00 PM
My initial encounter with seeing Sheer Mag live was an in-the-round performance at Thalia Hall in 2017. For a band just coming off their first full-length album (Need To Feel Your Love), it was a welcome choice that allowed a good deal of the audience to be close at hand and observe how the band members interacted with each other. The group dropped Playing Favorites, their 3rd LP and Third Man Records debut, last month and still tether their sound to the chooglin’ guitar attack of Matt Palmer, Kyle Seely and his brother Hart on bass, backing the impassioned howl of Tina Halladay. They bring a few variations to their classic ’70s-inspired material, most notably with the track “Mechanical Garden” that introduces a string arrangement and guest guitar solo from Mdou Moctar. The core four members of Sheer Mag originally met while attending the liberal arts college SUNY in Purchase, New York. Afterwards, they settled in Philadelphia in a shared residence they christened as ‘The Nuthouse.’ They remain a tight-knit unit; capable of transforming any house of music they venture to into a party of unbridled celebration. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Arsenal: Manipulator (Touch and Go EP)
Santiago Durango has had his six string imprint all over Chicago’s initial punk scene. As a teenager in 1977 while attending Gordon Tech H.S., he was an original member of Chicago’s first punk band, Silver Abuse, lasting only two gigs before jumping ship. Along with Marko Pezzati (older brother to Jeff), he was also a founding member of Naked Raygun, penning such staples as “I Lie,” “Bombshelter” and “Swingo.” When Steve Albini was searching for additional Big Black band cohorts following his solo-generated Lungs debut, he sought out Durango for “smash guitar” duties along with Jeff Pezzati to play bass (later to be replaced with Dave Riley).
Santiago’s final music endeavor prior to pursuing a professional living as a lawyer, was the formation of Arsenal. For the four-track Manipulator EP in 1988, he partnered with bassist Malachi Ritscher and also utilized a drum machine on the recording to a similar effect as Big Black. “Little Hitlers” opens with a Bonham beat, Durango’s hotwire guitar and largely undecipherable distorto vocals. “Half Control” is driven by Ritscher’s insistent bassline and strikes a more minimalist tone. A preacher’s apocalyptic sermon is plucked for the collage mash-up that comprises “Mr. Plague.” And an industrial hellscape closes out the record on “Momento Mori,” a riff on the memento mori trope signifying the inevitability of death and failures of humankind. Manipulator is a fascinating if somewhat obtuse look at society’s underbelly. Durango would return with a second Arsenal EP two years later, bringing in former Naked Raygun bassist Pierre Kezdy for Factory Smog Is a Sign of Progress, which explored similar themes and serves as a fitting bookend to Manipulator. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: