Dave Chamberlain

God bless the boys that run Horizontal Action.

For those not familiar with the magazine, which the three purveyors (Uncle Ted, Todd Killings, Larry Loudmouth) are able to get out twice a year, Horizontal Action blends two things which said publishers love: loud rock 'n' roll and hardcore pornography. The front half of the black-and-white magazine covers concert reviews, Q&A's with various bands, and record reviews. The back of the magazine contains porn reviews and interviews with porn starlets--in Horizontal Action #10, an interview with porn star Devon included the question: "How would you feel about coming to Chicago and having sex with me?" Think it's full of shit and sophomoric? Could be, but they're onto something nonetheless--HA gets distributed as far away as Australia and Japan, and was just picked up by Cargo Distribution UK.

Once or twice a year, the publishers of HA sponsor the Horizontal Action Blackout, a festival of loud rock bands; for the magazine's last issue, the Blackout was held simultaneously in four cities. This time around, to celebrate issue #11, the Blackout comes to Chicago this week, from May 8-10, at the Subterranean. Want to know what you're getting into? Read on.

Thursday, May 8:

One of the great underground Chicago bands kicking around right now, the Functional Blackouts are a sloppy mess of straight slap-in-the-face punk rock. The lone seven-inch single in Raw Material's possession, "1-900-Get Inside" and "Razor Blade Blues" is choppy, smarmy, somewhat mean-spirited and a fist in the jaw. Dallas' A Feast of Snakes debuted in the punk-rock world with an eponymous, four-song EP, which included a smokin' cover of Samhain's "In My Grip." Since then, I've been less impressed; but for those down with the wall-of-fuzz guitar sound, don't miss them. Hailing from Atlanta, the Black Lips can confound--sometimes, they bring a Billy Childish-ish, lo-fi punk rock sound; on the band's debut full-length, "Black Lips!" (Bomp), there's more of a traditional (cringe) garage rock angle. The band deserves credit, however, for its fortitude--last year, right as their debut was released, guitar player Ben Eberbaugh was killed in a car accident. The rest of the band stayed the course, however, and tonight marks their second trip to Chicago this year. The night's highlight: Memphis quartet The Lost Sounds deconstruct a slew of underground rock genres, integrating everything from new wave to Crass-style punk. The band even introduces a cello into the mix, fuzzing it out and making the resulting wash sound a mile wide.

Friday, May 9:

Headliner the Penetrators are old school, originally starting in the late-seventies--for fans of the Gizmos, Velvets, Stooges, etc. The band has been lost in the mix over time (they even had a surf-revival band steal their name), but rarely is any old punk rock too obscure to escape the gaze of Horizontal Action. Portland's The Hunches are hard to pin down--they're able to bring sloppy punk-rock noise one minute, and the next drop a riff you might've heard on the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Psychocandy." After what seemed like an eternity, fabled rock label Crypt Records has finally returned, and its first release since coming out of hibernation is New York's The Little Killers. The band plays a little lower key than much of what's at the Blackout, but their songs are meaty--they even use a harmonica on occasion. b>The Hard Feelings come straight out of Austin, and have released a record on Beerland Records, a name taken from one of the city's music venues. The band comes from the bluesy-garage angle, and are outdone by about fifty other bands. One of Chicago's most promising local bands, The Hot Machines feature members of the Ponys, Baseball Furies and Alex White from, um, Miss Alex White. Dark, moody and danceable at times, more Sonic Youth than bloody rock, the Hot Machines won't be an opening act for long.

Saturday, May 10:

Another superior member of the Chicago underground, the Tyrades (featuring a member of the Baseball Furies) spit out a hateful punk rock that's a modernized version of mid-seventies NYC rock--super-energetic and not just a carbon copy of things that have come before. Sacramento-based FM Knives just re-released their proper debut, "Useless and Modern," a razor-sharp and well-honed slab of Buzzcocks/Vibrators-style, upbeat rock. The record brims with energy, and the band translates it to stage well. One of the most creative bands during the entire weekend, the Seattle-based A-Frames are dark, stilted, and nearly mechanized in tempo. More No Wave than punk rock, the band's music is deliciously uncomfortable. Expect strange things from this trio. One of the many Detroit bands who've been lent assistance by Mr. Jack White (who recorded one of their singles), the Clone Defects bring the danger back to rock 'n' roll. One of the better bands that blends sixties British R&B (including real vocals) and raw three-chord rock, the Defects' "Shapes of Venus" is a drug haze on record. Though these guys get tagged with the street punk label, there's far too great a synthesizer presence in The Spits' music for that to fly. Simple songs, medium tempos and vocals you'd swear were from Ramones outtakes, the Spits are straight outta the punk-rock handbook--except for the politics.

(2003-05-07)

Also by Dave Chamberlain

Tip of the Week
For a band that doesn't even have an official full-length record out (though a very hyped effort is on its way), The Rapture has collected the positive nods of critics everywhere and been hailed as the unlikely prince of post-punk's return to the forefront.
(2003-04-30)

Raw Material
To see Watchers on stage is to see one of Chicago's most energetic bands on stage, the complete package so to speak.
(2003-04-30)

Coalition force
Riding a current wave of hype thanks to their two records, The Kills hail partially from England, partially from Florida.
(2003-04-22)

Raw Material
Local Renaissance man Joe Meno has a great sense of timing, even if he doesn't realize it.
(2003-04-22)

Raw Material
(2003-04-15)

American idols
(2003-04-15)

Spin control
(2003-04-15)

Tip of the Week
(2003-04-09)

Raw Material
(2003-04-09)

Passion sport
(2003-04-09)

Russian revolutionary
(2003-04-02)

Raw Material
(2003-04-02)

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