RECOMMENDED
Who woulda guessed that knife hits would eventually lead to dance hits? Puffy Areolas’ musical trajectory hasn’t moved in a calculable curve so much as it darts erratically from sub-basement loner punk to euphoric tape-deck manipulation and on to primal R&B. After the all-points Ohio band led by herb-scented Damon Sturdivant moved on from collectable tape and vinyl releases to the Siltbreeze-issued “1981,” it would have been easy to write the whole endeavor off, guessing that song after song would simply comprise a repetitive two-note screed. But the songs are charming and spacious enough to encompass everything from psych and punk’s back-catalog. “1982: Dishonorable Discharge,” which hopefully was titled with double entendre in mind, still counts as an album of songs about doing drugs—it’s just set alongside some weird romantic narrative on “Take My Place.” What’s most surprising, though, are the three tracks closing out Puffy’s latest disc. “By the Hand” opens with some walking bass and quickly moves into a garish garage-cum-dance track, suited to a “Nuggets” compilation (if there was one recorded during the filming of Tod Browning’s “Freaks”). The pair of notes that make up “All Day” isn’t revelatory, but the concerted effort at tuneful singing is a wholly new idea for this band on wax. The unintelligible vocal squawks that make “1981” so interesting have been replaced by Sturdivant grafting some Motown crooning atop the awful squalor of his music. The band still stretches out, descending to whatever personal hell’s prompted all this music on the seven-minute “$200 (Dishonorable Discharge).” But what initially brought freaks in to Puffy’s fold is still well represented on that closer. The detritus surrounding it doesn’t make you wanna sit in the corner and polish off a bottle of Old Grand-Dad alone. Running, a debonair troupe of locals, opens with its low-IQ take on auld tyme hardcore. (Dave Cantor)
September 2 at Lincoln United Methodist Church, 2242 South Damen. 9pm. $5 donation.
Related Stories
Further, Deeper, Infinity: A Preview of The Church at Lincoln Hall The Church has embarked on several retrospective projects like its current “Starfish” thirtieth anniversary tour, taking the opportunity to explore its massive back catalog (twenty-five studio albums and counting), but the band has never been one to rest on its reputation.- Past Is Still Prologue: A Preview of Fleetwood Mac at United Center While the band’s newer music continued to sell, there was little doubt that the fans who paid top dollar to see the group live were there to hear the hits of yesteryear. Acknowledging that reality is the fact that Fleetwood Mac’s most recent album release is 2003’s “Say You Will.”
- Do It Again: A Preview of Brian Wilson at Horseshoe Hammond While today former bandmate Mike Love leads a group calling itself the Beach Boys, that band features no Brian Wilson. Wilson’s group, on the other hand, includes original Beach Boys member Al Jardine as well as late-prime-era Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin, and is jaw-droppingly facile at recreating the Beach Boys sound.
- Last Punks Standing: A Preview of Mekons at Hideout Mekons have endured by refusing to adhere to anyone's ideas regarding what is and isn't punk rock (which is in and of itself a defiantly punk attitude).
- Still Breathtaking: A Preview of Sting at Ravinia Festival Sting's solo catalog boasts more than a dozen studio albums. He may not rack up the hit singles like he once did, but he remains a compelling writer, musician and performer.
- Especially For You: A Preview of the Smithereens at the Memorial Opera House Serious music scholars all, the Smithereens distilled their musical loves into something that ultimately sounded like nobody but them. Diken points to Gary Lewis and the Playboys as an influence; it’s worth noting that the studio cats who played on those records—immortal pop tunes like “Count Me In” —included Leon Russell and drummer Hal Blaine.
