RECOMMENDED
Even if you hate the idea of noise as music—and you have the right to—the sheer breadth of work connected to the Wolf Eyes pack should be impressive enough to wade into the mire. It’s not an easy task and the hundreds of tapes, lathe cuts, LPs and other sundry releases make taking in the Midwesterner’s work even more difficult. But paying attention to any randomly selected song (or screed, if that works better) can reveal a properly pieced together pastiche of music. And with its latest release through the De Stijl imprint, “No Answer: Lower Floors,” the ensemble, which has been joined by guitarist Jim Baljo after Mike Connelly’s departure, continues the somehow varied squalor of its past on works like “Choking Flies.” The industrial tint and out-poetry continues amid an electrical, twisting buzz. No rhythm actually emerges, but the sound of a tortured clapboard crops up frequently enough to suggest one. Discerning what’s going on and what the band’s getting at lyrically isn’t ever going to be readily apparent. But just like divining musical intent from the exploration of sounds, listeners can create meaning from understood snippets and words. The translation likely won’t be what Wolf Eyes intends, but whatever the most explorative electronic pioneers intended for the genre couldn’t have reached this apex. Claiming “No Answer” as the band’s peak would be akin to a parent choosing a favorite child. Of course, the entirety of Wolf Eyes’ output’s a weird birthing trick, taking up almost two decades of these men’s time. A substantial reckoning is required just to make it through this almost forty-minute trek. But with the stubbornly positive high-pitched tone wavering behind “Chatter Lead” and the jabbering pulse of the album’s twelve-minute closer, each track can offer a bit of insight into not just the band but purposeful art making in any discipline. (Dave Cantor)
July 20 at Bottom Lounge, 1375 West Lake, (312)666-6775. 10pm. $10. 17+
Related Stories
Art Over Stardom: A Preview of Sloan at the Bottom Lounge Making power pop usually means consigning one’s career to a specific corner of the pop landscape, and a comparatively small piece of the commercial pie. Sloan ignores the labels and simply goes about the business of writing catchy songs with sharp hooks.- Fever Pitch: A Preview of Guided by Voices at the Bottom Lounge Robert Pollard’s lyrics can sometimes seem as if the words were chosen at random and stitched together in similarly wanton fashion. Album titles only reinforce that notion: how else to explain 1993’s “Vampire on Titus,” 2003’s “Earthquake Glue” or 2014’s “Motivational Jumpsuit”? And for just the right off-kilter cherry on top, Pollard sometimes sings it all in a vaguely faux-British…
- "Rumours" Has It: A Preview of "Say You Love Me" at Davenport's Cabaret The performers process arena-rock anthems through their own cabaret-honed sensibilities.
- Match Set: A Preview of Tennis at Metro Moore and Riley have defined an identity that—while still built upon sounds and styles of decades past—now leans in a more timeless direction.
- 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.
- 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.
