Dig ‘in: Hinds, Dummy, Party Dozen
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
Hinds – VIVA HINDS (Lucky Number LP)
Behind the infectious joy that Hinds radiates on stage is a resilience and hardworking ethos that allows them to overcome ill-timed hardships. Releasing their third record, The Prettiest Curse, with the New York-based Mom + Pop label in 2020 seemed a step forward for the band, but in rapid succession they were forced to cancel their tour during the pandemic, parted ways with their management and label, and witnessed the exodus of their drummer and bass player. For VIVA HINDS, remaining members Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote have circled back to Lucky Number, the label that they originally began with when they were still known as Deers. The new album title reflects the affirmation they received from their fans after they were forced to change names from a competing group, yet were unsure on how the new moniker would be accepted.
The pair’s fighting spirit is captured in the video of “En Forma,” as they work up a sweat in their flat during an improvised exercise regimen meant to show off their indefatigable strength. The song was prompted by Cosials being dumped by an undeserving boyfriend, and is their first song sung entirely in Spanish: “Mírame no puedo más” (Look at me, I can’t take it anymore) comes the refrain. “Coffee” also shows the duo getting the upper hand as they sing: “I like black coffee and cigarettes / And pulling you strong from that chain that’s on your neck.” Of course it never hurts to get help from a couple of friends; Beck surfaces on the club-stomper “Boom Boom Back” and Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.) guests on the tender “Stranger.” The album’s biggest takedown occurs on “Superstar,” where a once admired, but now freeloading musician is taken to task for ghosting the pair to become a legend in his own mind. VIVA HINDS is a testament to the power of genuine friendship—one that perseveres through thick and thin and is capable of carrying on through a lifetime. -Bruce Novak
Dummy - Free Energy (Trouble In Mind LP)
Dummy possesses a rock band DNA that informs its electronic forays. Co-founding member Joe Trainor confessed that “a lot of the new stuff is trying to make a rock band sound like an electronic band.” Like a snug rubber band pulled back against a wrist, the music on Free Energy snaps with force and leaves a mark. In addition to Dummy’s signature guitar squalls, the synths, loops and shifting rhythms provide a thrilling rollercoaster effect with changes in direction and spiraling plunges. “Soonish” plays Emma Maatman’s serene vocals against a percolating instrumentation build-up that bursts into frenzy by song’s end. “Blue Dada” pleasantly surfs atop Alex Ewell’s kick and snare groove and then shifts abruptly two minutes in; a change announced by a sustained organ note that catapults the track forward until it collapses into discord as it starts to wrap up. “Nullspace” follows with burbling synths that provide a sensation of being underwater as Nathan O’Dell and Maatman provide a calming vocal duet. The pair reappear on “Minus World,” with Ewell’s motorik backing and a snarling guitar drop from Trainor. Free Energy is a layered achievement that will delight any listener who jumps in to peel back all the textures and revel at the rock sensibility that comprises its core. -Bruce Novak
Party Dozen - Crime In Australia (Temporary Residence LP)
Party Dozen’s last album, The Real Work, was an aggro juggernaut out to take no prisoners, which was only confirmed to me when watching them combust on stage during their tour swing through SXSW. With little use for subtlety, how would the Sydney pair of saxophonist Kirsty Tickle and percussionist Jonathan Boulet return to the studio and provide a different shade of black and blue? Somewhere therein the answer lies in conceptualizing a record that could serve as a soundtrack to vintage Australian cop shows. Per Boulet: “The record feels split into two contrasting sides: The first half is ‘order,’ being as listenable as Party Dozen has ever been. Each song is law abiding and dignified in its own place. The second half is ‘disorder,’ becoming more unlawful, unhinged, louder and noisier.” Of course Party Dozen’s interpretation of what constitutes order and disorder is open to debate!
On the front side of this ten track album, “Wake In Might” is a turn of phrase from the 1971 Australian new wave cult film Wake In Fright, which portrayed an unhinged outback culture. The song’s staccato piano pounding encases Tickle’s and Boulet’s attempts to break free of the structured constraints. “Money & The Drugs” follows with Tickle yelling into her horn bell and then is off to the races with Boulet laying down snare rolls with carpet bombardment frenzy. “The Big Man Upstairs” finishes off side one in cinematic scale, highlighting Tickle’s haunting vocals. The song’s video lays our the story of Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson, a Trump-like demagogue known as the ‘Hillbilly Dictator’ who banned public protests and set up a special punk rock task force in an attempt to squash rebellion, and who was ultimately driven from his post in 1987 following two decades of corruption.
On the backside, in “Bad News Department,” a fuzzed-out bass tangles with Tickle’s untethered sax to take the air out of the room. The biggest left turn leads into “The Righteous Front,” a polyrhythmic psychedelic-soaked number for a reinvented jazz age. Afterwards, “Piss On Earth” and “Jon’s International Marketplace” get back to harshing the mellow, full of menace and an intensity that’s physically felt to the same degree in which it is heard. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Mahogany
Where: Empty Bottle / Directions
When: September 20, 10:00 PM
This past May, Andrew Prinz and Jaclyn Slimm of NYC’s Mahogany returned with “A Scaffold” / “Polyvalence” 12"—their first new recording in over a decade and a lead in to their forthcoming Cumulative Power EP due this fall. For the first time, Prinz got behind the drum kit to supplement the couple’s instrumentation arsenal that incorporates vintage12-string guitars, ARP synthesizer, Farfisa organ, samplers and sequencers. Mahogany’s current sound leans toward a blend of shoegaze and motorik rhythm, moving beyond the austere dream pop that composed their initial recordings when Prinz founded the project. Both Prinz and Slimm are multimedia artists and their structured and curated music aims for an immersive “hypercube” effect, incorporating a fourth dimension that shifts when experienced from different vantage points. -Bruce Novak
Chaepter
Where: Color Club / Directions
When: September 20, 8:00 PM
Making the leap from home studio solo artist to a four-piece band has taken Chaepter Negro into new sonic territory. Utilizing professional recording studios at Jamdek and Bim Box in his adopted home of Chicago to construct his second album, Naked Era, allowed Negro to ratchet up the intensity and decibel levels. As a multi-instrumentalist who got an early headstart with piano and cello lessons during grade school in Central Illinois, he focused exclusively on guitar to compose Naked Era. The rousing dark wave of “Post-Touch” and paranoid strains of “The Noise!” from the new record usher in a bolder take on navigating the perils of society. “Something About People” embraces a more optimistic outlook and a call for community in the battle against ecological decline. Chaepter’s appearance is part of multi-band lineup of compatible artists, headlined by Cashier of Lafayette, Louisiana, and also featuring fellow Chicagoans Daundry and Stalled. -Bruce Novak
Verböten
Where: Riot Fest - Cabaret Metro Stage / Directions
When: September 21, 11:30 AM
Jason Narducy maintains a tireless presence in the music scene; recording with his band Split Single, recently resurrecting Verbow with Alison Chesley (aka Helen Money) and touring with Bob Mould, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as performing album tribute shows with actor Michael Shannon. Despite his full docket, he couldn’t resist jumping aboard when Tracey Bradford and Chris Kean made overtures about reuniting their middle school band Verböten. John Carroll (Mucca Pazza, 88 Fingers Louie) was ushered in to replace original drummer Zack Kantor, who declined the invitation but gave his blessing to the others. Fittingly, Carroll is a band teacher at the same Evanston school that Kean and Kantor previously attended. Bradford, a de facto ‘cousin’ of Dave Grohl, is credited with inspiring him to get involved in punk rock after bringing him to one of the band’s rehearsals and to his first concert to watch Naked Raygun at the Cubby Bear in 1982. Oddly enough, a reformed Scream, a D.C. band that Grohl cut his teeth drumming for early on, will be performing the next evening at Sleeping Village (sans the Foo Fighter of course).
Instead of reworking any of the existing songs from the original phase of Verböten, the band decided to have Narducy compose all new material for their debut album that will be released on October 4th. The two advance tracks, “No More Indecision” and “Bodily Autonomy,” hold true to group’s initial mission to delivery incendiary political punk. You’ll need to turn up early to catch Verböten’s set since they’ll be the first act up on the Cabaret Metro Stage. In assessing the universally undesired time slot, Narducy made note during a recent benefit performance at Electrical Audio Studios that it was ok by him since he’d be back home in Evanston in time for lunch when all was said and done. That’s punk rock living during your fifties, y’all! -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
The Ghost - This is a Hospital (Some Records LP)
A couple of recent conversations over the past few months have led me back to one of my favorite underappreciated bands from my high school years—The Ghost. No Wristband fans will recall that in our conversation with Taylor Hales, we discussed our favorite Steve Albini-produced albums, and I offered up The Ghost’s 2002 album This is a Hospital. As has regularly been the case over the past 20+ years, people weren’t familiar with the band, but that is why I am here dear reader to help you familiarize yourself with a band that was well-regarded in the Chicago punk scene. The other instance that made me think back to The Ghost was our recent conversation with Ian of Black Guy Fawkes. He was discussing how surreal it is to now be friends with Chuck from Hot Water Music—another post-hardcore band that orbited through Chicago punk stalwart venue “The Fireside.” I first heard about Hot Water Music when I was a junior in high school when a group of friends was planning to go see them at The Fireside in the city—this was a really cool trip to get to go on. I hadn’t heard them, but I trusted my friends, and off I went. At this point in time I was into music, but my concept of going to shows was going to see something at a bigger venue like The Riv, or the Aragon, or an all-day music festival like Q101's Jamboree. The Fireside was the antithesis of this—it was decidedly under produced, no frills, raw, dirty, and pure. What you saw was what you got. I was immediately hooked, I needed to go back.
Later that school year I went to see The Honor System and The Lawrence Arms for their record release show for Apathy and Exhaustion. The Ghost was the opener and the one band in the lineup I hadn’t heard before. As was the case with any band that played The Fireside, they came on stage with no fanfare, and then they unleashed a set that blew me away. They were easily the best band that night. Their mixture of punk, post-hardcore, and emo exploded out of them that night through a powerful live show. These were the days when phones didn’t have internet, you had to remember a band and hope that you could find them through a computer search later that night.
Luckily, I saw them several more times before I left for college, and they released This is a Hospital in March of 2002. I didn’t realize until much later that Steve Albini had actually produced the album. Like most Albini-produced albums, the rhythm section, especially the drums, sounds amazing on this record. I made it my mission to play them on my radio show out in the burbs, thinking that would help them expand their base. Very rarely did one of my shows go by without me playing “Diffuser,” a song that was propulsive as it was raw with its screamed vocals and hooky guitars. The tension ratchets up higher and higher until it explodes and you’re left with an outro that feels resolute. How could everyone not love this!? That was a thought I had a lot back then. For a long time it seemed like The Ghost was a fever dream to me. There wasn’t much press on them, their music wasn’t available online, and not many of my friends knew who they were aside from me proselytizing about them. As luck would have it, I was able to locate vinyl copies of their two albums that had been reissued in the late 2000s. With the reissue came their music being available on Bandcamp, and very recently Spotify. It has allowed me to fall back in love with this band that I feel should have hit bigger. Much as I remembered, this album is the perfect representation of what Chicago punk music sounded like in the early 2000s. There is an edge here, not just in the music but in the lyrics and their subject matter, and yet there are softer moments like the guitar solo in “The Exhibition.” The album blows open with “Death By The Bay,” a song with the screamed chorus of “I’ve seen these kingdoms rise and fall / I’ve seen these faces change with the seasons / I am your laughing shadow.” This is a Hospital is buttressed by some propulsive indie rock blended with post-punk/hardcore. I am once again captivated by how impressively this album captures their essence. Album closer “Red Slippers, Red Wheels” does what my favorite songs do—a slow build towards an anthemic conclusion. Yeah, this album still fucking rules. -Mark Joyner
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: