Dig ‘in: Sharp Pins, Avec Plaisir, pôt-pot
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
Sharp Pins - Balloon Balloon Balloon (K / Perennial LP)
With the diversity on display across Lifeguard, Dwaal Troupe and Sharp Pins, one wouldn’t anticipate Kai Slater feeling compelled to take a more psychedelic turn with Balloon Balloon Balloon so as not to typecast the Pins as a pure pop endeavor. That intent bears out in sonorous pursuit Slater tackles over the course of 21 adventuresome tracks.
The opener, “Popfangout,” sets the tone with its loopy wordplay and a buoyant melody. “Queen of Globes and Mirrors” gives it to the Soft Boys; bathed in a majestic glow that makes it apparent why Sharp Pins received platitudes from Robyn Hitchcock himself. The clipped ending of “All The Prefabs” is reminiscent of popsmith Tony Molina’s MO of condensing songwriting to capture just the essential elements. Slater leans into his psychedelic impulses with the trippy “(In A While) You’ll Be Mine” and goes mod mad on the amped-up “Takes So Long.” The tittle Balloon Balloon Balloon references the three sound interludes (titled “Balloon 1, 2 & 3") that divide the album in separate suites comprised of six songs each—for an artist that keeps expanding his repertoire it might also be construed as signaling a rising trajectory that keeps on heading skyward. -Bruce Novak
Avec Plaisir - Active Listening (Sad Songs Records LP)
The proliferation of Midwest Emo as a resurgent genre of music over the past 10+ years, coming from the far reaches of North America (that’s right, it has spread across borders now!) has been exciting to witness firsthand from the Midwest Emo epicenter that is Chicago. Starting with Algernon Cadwallader in the late aughts and recently reunited, the genre has continued to gain traction. How else can one explain noted Midwest outpost (heavy sarcasm here), Montreal, producing one of the scene’s best new bands, Avec Plaisir.
Avec Plaisir consists of 4 self-described “30 somethings” featuring Sam Winsor on guitars/vocals, Julien Besner on bass/vocals, Maxime Verreault on drums, and Sean Kershaw on trumpet/vocals. Their fantastic sophomore album Active Listening has the touchstones of what made Midwest Emo so great; the twinkly guitars, as heard on opening track “What Does Your Tattoo Mean?,” the arpeggiated riffs, as heard on “Junket,” and the mathy time signature shifts as heard on “Final_final-vz psd.”
This isn’t cribbing what Midwest Emo has been, but expanding on what it can be with some cross-pollination of fourth-wave emo with the addition of dropped-in internet meme audio for those in the know (FENTON!!). The music is equal parts contemplative, shimmering, and propulsive. These four understated French Canadians come together to craft some earworms that their emo forefathers would be envious of. One can only hope they wish to make the pilgrimage to 704 High Street followed by a show in Chicago soon enough. -Mark Joyner
pôt-pot - Warsaw 480km (felte LP)
Frontman Mark Waldron-Hyden refers to pôt-pot’s song creations as atmospheric topographies. There’s a layering of ideas and textures to go into this Irish and Portuguese quintet’s music. Basing their concept around the repetitive rhythms from funk pioneers such as James Brown and Curtis Mayfield, pôt-pot have translated that approach to a new format, blending it with krautrock, psych and drone. The goal is to always be in motion, pushing forward and providing an enticement to dance.
Second selection “22° Halo” immediately slips into motorik drive, casting a trance-like spell. The serpertine “Sextape” slithers along in darkwave fashion. A journey as a passenger in a luxury vehicle en route to pick up his father’s ashes inspired Waldron-Hyden to write “WRSW,” which ties into the record’s title and deals with the juxtaposition of being outwardly comfortable while mentally struggling. The rousing “I AM!” finds Waldron-Hyden at wit’s end, rising and falling in intensity to capture his shifting moods. “The Lights Are On” reverberates on into the distance; its sinuous journey full of tactile pleasures. Following the release of two earlier EPs, pôt-pot’s debut album Warsaw 480km functions as a signpost that opens up the possibility of multiple future directions—I’ll be along for the ride to see where they end up next. -Bruce Novak
UPCOMING
Panda Riot at The Burlington - Jan 9, 8:00 PM
In 2005 when working on a film short titled Dolphins and Porpoises, Philadelphians Rebecca Scott and Brian Cook started creating music together in order to soundtrack their production. That eventually led to the creation of Panda Riot and a later decampment to Chicago. The group’s sound-sculpting aims for a celestial reach, captured by their album titles Extra Cosmic and Infinity Maps. Scott’s lilting vocals ascend over the layered sounds of effects-driven guitars and swirling keys. Cook’s film technician capabilities translates over to his song construction approach in which he draws a comparison between verses and choruses to scenes, cuts and location. He’s also enamored with constructing his own guitar pedals, customizing them specifically for individual songs. In cinematic terms, Panda Riot take an auteur approach, carefully crafting their music to make it distinctly their own. -Bruce Novak
Interlay at Schubas Tavern - Jan 10, 8:00 PM
Since venturing south from Madison, Wisconsin in 2023, Chicago locals Interlay have continued to increase their sonic density. The group’s second EP, Hunting Jacket, released last year as a six-song cassette on Pleasure Tapes, pairs the crushing guitar dynamics between Alexandria Ortgiesen and Sam Eklund. The songs are a leap forward texturally from their 2020 Cicada EP and are matched in intensity by Ortgiesen’s anguished vocals. After last appearing at Schubas in August, this return set is part of the welcome winter respite provided by the annual Tomorrow Never Knows festival, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary with another adventuresome line-up taking place each weekend over the month of January. -Bruce Novak
Richard Lloyd Group at Hideout - Jan 15, 8:30 PM
Television co-founder Richard Lloyd’s 2019 memoir, Everything Is Combustible, is a remarkable dissection into his philosophical approach to music and life. Considering his uncanny fortune to cheat death on a number of occasions, we’re truly blessed to have that prose as a keepsake and to still have an opportunity to witness his talent on stage as a septuagenarian.
In his Medium essay titled Art and The Otherworld, my friend Steven Lindstrom equates an incendiary 1986 performance by Lloyd at Chicago’s long gone West End club to the transcendent effect he experienced upon his initial encounter with Monet’s expansive Water Lily Triptych at MoMA NYC. Life altering moments are part and parcel in Lloyd’s stratosphere. In the course of being the beneficiary of second-hand Jimi Hendrix guitar lessons through his childhood friend Velvert Turner, Lloyd eventually meets Hendrix only to be sucker punched by The Voodoo Child after an inebriated-fueled misunderstanding. Lloyd wasn’t hurt from the experience and considered it a positive transfer of Hendrix’s true force, whom he later received a tearful apology from. As an interesting corollary, Lloyd himself offers personal guitar tutoring--a pay-it-forward gesture that keeps the force alive. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Delta - Slippin’ Out (Dishy Recordings / Circuitry LP)
When The Sea Urchins splintered in 1992, brothers Roberts (James and Patrick) and Robert Cooksey carried on as Delta. Feted as the first band to issue a single on Sarah Records, The Sea Urchins were beloved, but never able to release a full studio album in their time together. It seemed for awhile that the same fate might befall Delta. After releasing three singles on the upstart Dishy Recordings, the band had captured the attention of Paul Weller, with his sister Nicky taking over as their manager. When Ed Piller signed them to Acid Jazz’s subsidiary Focus, it appeared greater things were in store, but after running into issues in getting a new EP released, the band eventually returned to Dishy.
By the time they were eventually able to release Slippin’ Out in 2000, original guitarist Robert Cooksey had departed when it became increasingly apparent that the Roberts brothers were taking over creative control of Delta. Nonetheless, Slippin’ Out is a resplendent dose of crafted pop music. The album opens with the jaunty “Color Madré,” a pleasing mix of acoustic and electric guitars and modulation techniques. “Everybody” is a gorgeous keyboard-driven ballad with Beatles overtones. “Bra” and “L’Egohead” are swaggering rock gems, remnants of the Britpop era. In recognition of the 25th anniversary of Slippin’ Out, Circuitry re-issued the record in November with five bonus tracks (including the wonderful garage rave-up “The Bigger Picture”). -Bruce Novak
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: