Dave Chamberlain

With alternating male-female vocals, a pairing of disco and aggressive rock that outdoes Electric Six and a stage show to justify the band's name, Bang! Bang! seems to be one of Chicago's most promising bands. The band's "Electric Sex" (Morpheus), for which tonight functions as a record-release party, is a five-song EP chock full of the twenty-first century; while the likes of "Candystop" and "Something More" tread the thin line between modernized post-punk and disco-rock, the title track stands as a song that's entirely the band's. Energized by a roughshod guitar riff that should attract any fan of power-rock 'n' roll and a gait that allows for either maximum head-bopping or fanny-shaking, out-and-out dancing, it functions as both the record's and the band's raison d'être. But all this would fall to pieces were it not for Bang! Bang!'s singular ability to put it all together on stage in an attractive--if not a little bizarre--fashion. Did I just use the word fashion? Perhaps that plays a part in this whole thing as well.

Bang! Bang! plays a record-release party for "Electric Sex," June 4 at the Empty Bottle, 1035 North Western, (773)276-3600. (2005-05-31)

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