Staring Problem

   Staring Problem played twice in one week. The first show I arrived well in advance. It was a Monday at Township. At the time I had lost my camera. So the pictures I compile here are of other notable shows. I've never seen the lead singer wear this shirt again. Its iconic for me. The Depeche Mode night. But I caught all of their Monday night gig, notably for me because they covered beautifully Cocteau Twins for one song. Their second time it was for a show that included HIDE and Ritual Howl. Their new work is brilliant. I'm looking back and I notice that I wrote before about their newest work Long Winter. Hmm, I kinda noticed I went through each.....already mentioned New Model Army. Well the point is that I saw them. They are actively playing from Long Winter. Its still current. I'm glad they are a Chicago band. They are originally from Carbondale Il. The Friday night included Hide, Ritual Howl, and YOU. In both shows I saw a lot of fellow goths among the fans. Hell Staring Problem stayed for YOU. Its here noted for something that I saw the summer of 2016. I have both band shirts. They are beautiful. They are black. One has a picture of a cat. Anyway I feel the weight of years in listening to Staring Problem. Since around 2010, so yeah, I'm glad to see them performing and refining their intangible signatures. What happens around imprints on the music you listen to at that time.

And a lot has changed between now and 2010. A lot of improbable absurdities are kinda occurring, and have occurred since knowing of this band. Zig

AXONS

  Axons is Adele Nicholas. I'm seeing the band evolve. She told me ahead of time such changes would come. It was an interesting time when I found her. Axons was very electronic sounding. It was something that to me was fully integrated into the bands permanent identity. It was part of the impression with the delicate fairy tale Gandolinium . The lonely, almost child-like haunted voice left its mark. Its sweet and haunting like  its from the soundtrack to Amytiville Horror. Stripped down to bare electronic bones and her voice. Bastards is stripped down but its to leave more space for whats left in it. The guitar is raw and angry and clear, as well her voice. Less is heard more intensely, more aggressively. And so hits you close Trust Me I Know. It hits you unguarded, as does Wrists Hands Fingers. These are chilling songs  when you know that some of these tracks from Unmanageable are inspired in part by her struggle with chronic unpredictable illness.  Adele has fucking balls and she kicks around and busts balls as a Civil Rights lawyer during the day all fucking day. At night she wears these gothic looking black boots that feel completed with matching bull whip. The "I just finished kicking ass" boots, like wonder woman at Nocturna.
  Unmanageable kinda slips some no-bullshit seriousness. In an interview she has described Unmanageable as thoughtful dance. And it is. If you are thoughtful, the weight of her words have impact. Its years away but I can see the actors in the future falling over each other in the audition trying for her part in the movie. The screenwriters are wanting a girl with a really thick Chicago accent.....does not matter if Adele has no such accent. Matt Damon is gonna direct. Damn....this no-filter thought-processing instrument sometimes goes off in all directions.
  She is taking the band away from electronic and refocus its rock element. I saw some of this at this last Frontwoman Fest. Its great to be witnessing the change. Its great to know this longer continuum. I like what she plays now and will aways like what she played before. And I know she talked at Therapy Sessions at Hungry Brain. I missed her segment entirely but I got to talk with her and her husband later. Its a cool privilege to have them as friends. I get nervous and I rant, often about things I've said to them before. I'm on the spot so I gotta dance the tunes I know. Meaning I feel like I end up saying shit I've told them before. I know we got to talk about Beat Drun Juel and how awesome and powerful is the Jedi Donna. On the spot I rant not to focus attention on me. So anyway, Axons are Cool for so many reasons.
Zig.

Advaeta

 From foggy memory comes this focused narrative about seeing Advaeta at Empty Bottle.  Somewhere in there will be impressions of hearing the downloaded music. They are from Brooklyn. And I am hearing Death And The Internet. Seeing them one time carries well and then when you hear them on your own in the car, and pow!.....a second time! And that one time at Empty Bottle is but a brief window. I'm glad I finally found the few pictures I took of their show. I guess I mostly observed. But that window starts this ball rolling, a new soundtrack to play to all thoughts that cross the mind, and you discover yourself again. Fuzzy and forward driving, this  nebulous engine with clear vocals. There's an aggression in the fuzz that keeps me from saying shoegaze. The word driven out! Hmmm, one less word. They are fast and driving from the first second, a downhill rolling conviction with barely a slow down to wonder about. Its fascinating when its the drummer that sings. The urgency does not snuff out the candle in the sharp movement.  With Angelfish as I see the gears work is when the vocals kick in. Its the first track and you immediately are set up for more. You are automatically a fan of what you just heard and what comes next. Hazel Blue Eyes  brings to mind...... Advaeta is less My Bloody Valentine and more Miranda Sex Garden in their mysteriousness.  They take their time just like MSG. Divide reveals in rapidly churning steps. The moment occupied by both urgency and a long relaxed unveiling of layers. In fact I would start with MSG when talking about Advaeta. I notice myself into the textures of guitar before they even sing.  down.  In Gold Thought Exit the pulse breathes urgently even when appearing to slow.
  .  RIP is another one that has a Miranda Sex Garden feel to it. Its a never ending twister, mediaeval tornado wind. I feel like I tumbled on a set of stairs. I can now go over these songs and listen to them and feel their individual impact. You can basically replace most of the soundtrack of Ladyhawke with these tracks. You are a free runner in a forest. Your New Life In Pictures. Death And the Internet is the name of the album, and they made a fan of me.  Zig

Pale Dian...Stargazer Lillies....Wow!!!

  So this time they played Empty Bottle, the second time under their new name, Pale Dian. They have been here more times still under their old name Black Stone Rangers. I arrived on time to see Stargazer Lilies. This show so mesmerized me. This was one that I saw ahead of time, sometimes wondering how would it go. The haze began when I walked into Stargazer Lilies. Beyond that threshold the wonder begins. I never got to properly write about them even as I have seen them once before with Casket Girls. They are seriously hazy with We Are the Dreamers. Its a fucking stoner's maze. You are lost and you don't care, its cool. They barely move faster than mid tempo. If you are nostalgic for a dream state, that implies patience for a slow drive in a wonder filled street. This time I got to see this after some moments with Dreamers. They were marvelous.
  A wonder to behold to see these slow burners do so live. They reveal slowly. Dreamers took its time with me. The title track hit me hard and dropped me in the middle of its mystery. After that I needed to take my time with the rest. And now they hit with a faster burn even as the tracks themselves do not. Endless Days floats me away. They all do a variation of floating. They sneak up on you. The maze will reveal eventually and that's when it hits you. How We Lost is a psychedelic soundtrack. It has a story to tell, and you are compelled to hear it. I remember just standing in front of it like it was gonna run me over and I was ok with it. And perhaps that is something I can apply to all of Dreamers right? I'm hear trying to load the moment with all this fucking forethought, right? Its really me reconstructing with a German Expressionist memory designer, afterwards. Kim Field sings and her husband John Cep is the guitarist. Had I done more research ahead of time I would have known that they were in Sound Pool. I saw the fucking merch on the table and oh it fucking burns that I just saved that money for some bull shit.....I'm ok. I'll get it later. So now here I am, on time for them and while still exploring the foggy Dreamers.
  And now I have Door To The Sun ahead ready to further load and warp the memory. An impression is ever evolving. And I bought Sun knowing the pace of the previous imprint. I'm cool. I catch their show and they are brilliant. I remember just concentrating on them. I recall an intensity to their easy pace. They know how to hold your attention. Its a magnet they know they have and recreate the engine with each new track. So I saw them, like really concentrating on them. The psychedelic haze had its way of washing in waves. I was in the middle of one as I saw this. And it had me ready for the next band Pale Dian! This was a a show I long anticipated now finally before me. And I was hit over the head with Narrow Birth.
  I was dropped into a Julee Cruise acid space-dream with The Avenue. That song I know I heard and keep going back to every time I play the CD. In this one trip they took here in Chicago...December 2015 I think....They had a CD with like three to hold you down. In A Day was in that first CD and I think I heard it that third July. I heard them again and that was great to behold. Some of the tracks I needed to hear again and again all maniacally. It helped to make the trip back home an nice touristy drive. I took home Narrow Birth and Door To The Sun. I was hit hard by their live sets. It felt nice to be in that tunnel with the light at the end of it too distant to be real, and you're far from wanting it to be.

  I stayed for they entire show which continued on with New Canyons and they were fucking brilliant! I noticed musicians in the crowd, I saw Scary Lady Sarah and Angela from Coins/Sybris/Touched By Ghoul. After the show I took a friend home. Some tracks from Narrow Birth searing and steady burn demand that you listen to quench the fire. The Avenue took me back to a smokey David Lynch bubble, nostalgic and hurting for more Twin Peaks. Spacey and bubbly is a signature of Pale Dian. They lean heavily towards sounding like Cocteau Twins. I mean awesome in that way. This was a vacation into the self.

Zig.

impulsive hearts

  This was at Cole's on Milwaukee. Adele from Axons got me into Impulsive Hearts. I automatically recall who got me into what. Every time I hear this I feel like they almost put me on this surf board with a green screen making it look like I can fucking surf.  Its just a certain set of images that superimpose when hearing Impulsive Hearts, the beach, the ocean, and surfing, and perhaps that's more on me. This feels perfect for Muscle car driving in the summer. Her songs have this urgency to them. And there's a vintage thing about them. I'm reminded of my own image of what 60's rock sounded like. Like its music from a modern period that is still remote from your personal experience. So that is in part what passes through me as I hear Impulsive Hearts, before even touches what she says in it. And reading Danielle Sines interview with the Chicago Tribune gets me to listen to what I do have of this band with new ears. And there is new work to expect from Impulsive Hearts.

Lyrics Danielle describes as darker. And that is apparent to me even before the lyrics. Its a dark driving engine that I like how she controls. The sweetness is perfect and does not get overwhelmed by the heavy driving guitar, messy and grungy at times. I've missed some good shows of hers, and it frustrates like a mother fucker. Her new music crystallizes and sharpens the signatures that capture attention. And I want to continue to see it evolve in live performance.  

 They got a show Saturday 6 August at Chop Shop. Its gonna hurt if I miss it. And its with so many awesome bands on top of them. Zig

Ego Likeness

  I get faint feelings endearing and even nostalgic about Ego Likeness. I remember using film when taking pictures of Donna. I keep CD's. They are tangible relics. Perfect, tangible primary documents of their time. I look at Water To The Dead and it's from 2004. I can tear the room up looking for something else, just to see all of them in front of me. I won't. And then like a slow flash of branching lighting I see the path that lead me to appreciate Chicago bands like Hide....female and dominant. Their shows would bring together the people that lean industrial and goths. Two separate scenes. The shoe gaze people are so fucking spooked like cats under the couches, the poor fucking dears. Don't even bother looking around for them. They don't even get all the fucking costumes, why so much fucking black.
  It can be argued that who I choose to go see is a variation of the female underdog archetype. Their existence is swimming against the currents. Donna has this way of writing about them while kinda being an example of one. Empowering, and defiant are her lyrics. I do feel as if Ego Likeness seem to champion or write about the female underdog in all its forms.  This is something that can be observed in Donna's lyrics. Even when I hear her say "burn witch, burn!" you feel her completely with the burning witch. I still get some chills reading the lyrics of 16 miles. For me it is about a domestic violence survivor on the run after finally killing the bastard that had it coming. The mind cannot help but to form a wider story. Its on Water to the Dead and that is from 2004 I think. This long ago Monday night show at Reggies was their first since being stuck in some tiny Wyoming town for two days because the snow closed the highways. It was just dangerous and they were stuck and this Monday night Chicago show was the first out of that hibernation. I took pictures of this show and am busy trying to recall what I thought of it. Order Of The Reptile still feels recent....even if that's still a decade. Now I'm chewing through Breedless and I'm still behind. That one is from 2010. And by now they know their shit. Breedless waves the defiance flag with a practiced hand. It's an industrial dance-floor dream track. That I can say of most of Breedless. It all comes back to me, why I liked them to begin with, and why they will continue to hold my attention now and for the long term. The Devils In The Chemicals will hold me down until I catch up again later. I'm happy we are both still around. That's not just light bull shit. A lot of history has happened since I first new them and their work has proven timeless to me. It may not be so bad strolling through these. This is just what I have of them before walking into this show at Reggies. I came home with Breedless from this show that I almost did not go to. Zig.

Spaces Of Disappearance

  The more I see Spaces Of Disappearance, the more I like them. Elaine's music has grown on me faster than I anticipated. Even before Dick Cheney In the Light they were on my radar. Elaine is usually a solo act under the band name. I have seen her perform with a full band. She is way cool, Its like "do you know Elaine from Spaces?". Yes I do, and she's awesome. I got to know Spaces by way of Axons. Elaine and Adele are friends. I've seen them perform in the same stage. A lot of cool nights are recalled that way because of them. I have seen Spaces recently at Frontwoman Fest held at Burlington on Fullerton, and at The Whistler on Milwaukee Ave. These are the two most recent. There was a good audience for her at Whistler.....both places actually. The reason why I like noting Whistler is because it was just for her that night. The crowd was specifically for her. Frontwoman Fest was a marathon. I recall a good audience for her then as well. I feel fortunate for the shows that I have caught with her. It becomes a personal thing for me to see them well received. I missed Impulsive Hearts and Beat Drun Juel because they were early. She really has been blowing me away with the textures of dance-floor worthy sounds she combines. The Dick Cheney song reminded me of Golden Filter, timeless disco. And it just built from there. I know its in these last two shows that she has played her new work, and its impressive. I want to hear it more. I am so into how she puts beats together and how clear it all sounds, as if all the elements had enough space in between.  So you can hear her voice and actually listen to what she says. I went to youtube and just saw her songs posted there! What an awesome treasure to find! And I can put names to these impacting tracks, Unsaid, Ode to Joy, Drone, Strangers On a Train.. Zig.

Beat Drun Juel at Fuck Fest 3

 Last week I caught a part of her segment at Hungry Brain. This place on Belmont that I once thought closed. Even open its hard to find. They have this thing on Wednesday called Therapy Sessions. They mostly interview the artist. That is the focus rather than the actual performance. This is brilliant. I always notice when an artist says interesting things between songs and this is the perfect space for them to linger in those moments speaking about their music or whatever comes to their head. Donna played two songs. The one I caught I would hear again at the soon to be closed Double Door. I do not recall a lot of Donna's segment at Hungry Brain, meaning I don't have the minutes, mentally transcribed. Little beyond the set of images of her sitting down on a couch. The song I caught was like seeing the staged reading of a great play. Awesome as well as insightful. I remember talking to her briefly later. Hmm, I got nervous and so I ranted a bit. Argghhh. She's really cool. Its great the scene is sometimes small enough that you can have these casual moments. This shyness creeps back and you feel on the spot. That's the thing too, her guitar skills separately deserve praise. AAB SOCEC keeps my attention in part because of her guitar playing. Donna told me later about this thing at Double Door where Beat Drun Juel would officially release the EP Suppressor. So I make it to that on time to see some great bands before her. Pinto, Soddy Daisy, The Cell Phones! Donna has this powerful, dominant, effortless stage-presence. Its in her guitar-playing....I mean where do I fucking start. I want my nieces to see this. This would break a lot of Disney habits. I think it could inspire as PJ has. By now I can say BDJ feels familiar. Its great to have seen her shows, you visit them again even as this new performances brands its mark on my German Expressionist memory. She played Satisfy and....each track has its own set of balls. Satisfy I just gotta see live, its the signature of powerful, don't-fuck-with- me dominant. Bluesy......And its a beautiful sight, I have to fucking say. Donna gets into a performance as if the audience disappears from her radar. You see it in her face, her eyes when they are not looking at anything, but past everything, a lightning storm of intense flashed expression.  Some tracks that are previously in Off Your Face are also in Suppressor and you can hear the changes. I like seeing them revisit, its so insightful to see where they are now with their signature work. Beat Drun Juel finished their set by sacrificing this guitar Donna shredded. It was fucking fabulous. I believe it was also Donna's birthday.
Zig