Dig ‘in: Sincere Engineer, Teenage Fanclub, The Treasures of Mexico
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
Sincere Engineer - Cheap Grills (Hopeless Records LP)
Chicago punk is something near and dear to all the No Wrisbands crew—I’m talking Slapstick, The Broadways, The Lawrence Arms, Rise Against, The Honor System, Alkaline Trio—punk with soaring choruses and just the slightest hint of pop melodies— and we have the newest entry into that pantheon, Sincere Engineer. The band started as a solo project of lead singer, main songwriter, and guitarist Deanna Belos, and has morphed into a tight band featuring Nick Arvanitis on bass, Adam Beck on drums, and Kyle Geib on guitar. We recently interviewed Deanna on the pod, and only having heard two of the singles felt confident saying these were the band’s best songs yet, and I can say after hearing the whole album, it is even better than we could have imagined.
I know I talk a lot about my affinity for bands leveling up, but it never gets old, and that’s exactly what happened here too. Deanna said in our interview that working with their producer Mike Sapone helped push the songs up a level. He encouraged the band to retool some of their songs, add some choruses and additional verses, and the finished product is astounding. I am admittedly biased, I love hearing songs that shout out Chicago and drinking, but these are great songs! Telling stories of not fitting in, unrequited love, stories of new love, it is the work of a band confident in who they are, and swinging for the fences (as called out in album closer “Blind Robin”). Belos’ range has improved over the years—there are still the anthemic punk songs like “Scratched” but there are also softer vocals on songs like “Blind Robin” and “Inside My Head.” These songs are more filled out with keys being added by The Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay—like on the early single “California King,” whose keys remind me of the late ’90s/early 2000s Chicago band, Sig Transit Gloria. The standout song on the album for me is “Old Coat Pocket,” a fitting telling off of an ex with my favorite lyrics: “I stood out like a dad on the porch just to be / Ready to watch you roll through my goddamn city.” The image of that hasn’t left my mind in a while, it’s just so good. Make sure you check out their album release show at the Metro on December 23rd. -Mark Joyner
Teenage Fanclub - Nothing Lasts Forever (Merge Records LP)
It’s no surprise that the new Teenage Fanclub record, Nothing Lasts Forever, doesn’t deliver any big surprises. For some time now, the Fanclub has settled into a signature sound of easy-rolling, mid-tempo strummers laced with subtly enticing hooks and layered vocal harmonies. And that sound is signed, sealed and delivered here. The song “Foreign Land” kicks off the proceedings with a laser beam of fuzz-tone guitar before settling into a harmony-drenched hook-slide that’s irresistibly catchy. The tunes “Tired of Being Alone” and “Falling into the Sun” beautifully show off one of the Fanclub’s more unique skills: the ability to turn a gentle cascade of minor chords and introspective lyrics into something that makes you want to tap your foot and sing along with, rather than cry in your beer. “It’s Alright” is another buoyantly melodic, infectious gem that ranks with the band’s very best. While there are a couple numbers on Nothing Lasts Forever that end up sounding more pleasant than truly compelling, the quotient of hits-to-misses on the record is high. It’s true that nothing lasts forever, and neither will Teenage Fanclub. But they’ve been delivering the goods for over three decades now, so savor the magic while it’s still here! -Rick Reger
The Treasures of Mexico - Burn the Jets (Spinout Nuggets LP)
This British quartet boasts the best band name I’ve heard in a decade and two former members of beloved ’90s pop/rockers The Dentists: guitarists Mark Matthews and Bob Collins. Although chiming, ’60s-influenced guitar-pop was a Dentists strong suit, they could also roll out some murky psychedelia, folky acoustic strumming and even the occasional hard rock explosion. However, The Treasures of Mexico’s delightful third album, Burn the Jets, keeps infectious pop nuggets flowing start to finish. Ultra catchy album opener “Beaming” sets the tone for much of what follows: a gently propulsive groove buoying harmony vocals (a Dentists staple) sighing over sparkling guitar hooks that glisten like morning dewdrops on a cobweb. The semi-acoustic “I’ve Got Everything That You Need” offers another quick dose of melodic charm, while “Monday Morning” kicks the volume up a bit without minimizing the blissful guitar hooks. I should add that bassist Nick Rice and drummer Russ Baxter are more than up to the job of pumping occasional, ample muscle into the songcraft. “Halo” and “Moon Landing” start with gentle, melodic guitar lines before their choruses burst with a powerhouse rhythmic crunch. “Fate Was Out to Get Me” even turns the axes and intensity up into the metallic range! But if you love the Dentists—or any classically melodic, hook-y songwriting—Burn the Jets provides a wonderfully warming pop bonfire. -Rick Reger
UPCOMING
Ulrika Spacek
Where: Sleeping Village / Directions
When: October 17, 8:00 PM
The gentrification-fueled loss of their recording studio/rehearsal space in Homerton, East London while Ulrika Spacek were planning the follow-up to their second album, Modern English Decoration, in 2018 started a downward spiral that took the group years to emerge from. With band members forced to seek out alternative housing arrangements, a sense of disarray and dread crept in and a switch to a new professional recording studio in Hackney furthered their anxiety that ultimately led to the project being shelved. Strangely enough, the pandemic break provided a reset for Ulrika Spacek and an opportunity to reassess the recordings. After a restart, Compact Trauma finally saw release in March of this year and is saturated with feelings of displacement and distress. The band appear to have been able to effectively circle the wagons with locked-in playing and a continued psych-rock approach to soothe a damaged psyche. Reinvention proved unnecessary when a degree of resilience was what was most needed to carry the day. Here’s your chance to welcome them back with open arms. -Bruce Novak
Skinny Lister / PET NEEDS / Bandaid Brigade
Where: Beat Kitchen / Directions
When: October 28, 8:00 PM
Hailing from London, Skinny Lister have been playing their form of folk-punk in clubs since 2009. They’re headlining this U.S. tour in support of a new album, Shanty Punk, their 6th studio record, which is due out October 20th on Xtra Mile Recordings. On stage, you’re going to get an energetic & dynamic band singing anthems about drinking in bars with friends and getting into scrapes with your mates (often after a night out at a pub), lustily-sung sea shanties and songs about being on the correct side of English politics. The five piece band features an interesting mix of instruments, including stand-up bass, melodeon, mandolin, ukulele and stomp box, as well as powerful group harmonies. As the band sings on the song “Embers”: “Forget all your trouble / There’s drinking to do.” Opening bands include one of my faves, PET NEEDS, who’ll bring their own version of high-energy punk music, as well as Bandaid Brigade. Bring your dancing boots and be prepared for a sweaty night in a packed Beat Kitchen! -Tom Novak
Illusion of Safety / Cheer-Accident / Hali Palombo
Where: Elastic Arts / Directions
When: November 4, 8:00 PM
Illusion of Safety’s performance on this bill will celebrate 40 years of inspired sonic experimentation, exploration and transfiguration from this esteemed Chicago-area electronic music mainstay. Although a number of people have contributed to IoS over the years, Daniel Burke has been (and remains) the principle mad scientist in the IoS laboratory. The world of electronic music has seen countless noise-maker dabblers come and go in the last 40 years, but IoS’s music has always been thoughtful, mesmerizing, inventive and deeply artistic. The upcoming new IoS record, Pastoral, more than measures up to its name, stringing together a series of dreamy soundscapes where ambient sound, traditional instrument samples and electronic emanations are slowly swirled into a beguiling kaleidoscope of colors and textures. Truly hypnotic. Also on this bill are plunderphonics sound artist Hali Palombo and veteran avant-rock greats, Cheer-Accident, whose unpredictable performances can encompass classic prog, abrasive riffage, pensive lyricism, polyrhythmic sonic seiches and even an unexpected Steely Dan or Stevie Wonder cover. Always a treat! -Rick Reger
UNCOVERED
The Dentists - Behind The Door I Keep The Universe (EastWest Records LP)
Weary of the early ’80s manufactured pop from the likes of Duran Duran and Culture Club, Medway musicians Bob Collins and Mark Matthews set out to recapture the energy of ’60s-influenced garage and psychedelia in combination with a post-punk angularity. Things coalesced when Mick Murphy came aboard in 1984 as lead singer and additional guitarist. It wouldn’t be until 1991, though, when an opportunity presented itself to gig in the US when a couple of New York devotees brought the band over for a performance at CBGB as part of CMJ’s Music Marathon. Influential US indie label Homestead Records then inked The Dentists for a pair of albums (Dressed and Powdered Lobster Fiasco) that compiled prior material. A seemingly big break presented itself when Atlantic subsidiary EastWest Records scooped up the group and proceeded to release Behind The Door I Keep The Universe in 1994.
BTDIKTU is arguably The Dentist’s most complete and endearing record. “This Is Not My Flag” opens the album with an urgency and statement of intent that fulfills the group’s founding mission. It gives way to the winsome “Space Man,” an imagined exit strategy to flee a suffocating relationship. Throughout BTDIKTU Murphy’s voice comes to the fore; varied in inflection and tone but never short of captivating. Whether luxuriating in harmony on “Brittle Sin and Flowers” or racing with breathless abandon on “Apple Beast,” the effect consistently triggers auditory pleasure receptors. The album rose to Number 8 on the CMJ College Radio charts, but after the follow-up, Deep Six, failed to build on that momentum Bob Collins put them to rest and The Dentists joined that legion of unsung bands that deserved much more than what they ever got. -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: