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Yakuza, Oxbow, & Sybris Live Show Review: 2/25, Thalia Hall, Chicago

Yakuza's Jerome Marshall & Bruce Lamont

BY JORDAN MAINZER

For two Chicago bands, Sunday night was all about reflection. First and foremost, local metal legends Yakuza were there to celebrate 25 years of existence. They first caught the eyes and ears of listeners with their independently released debut album Amount to Nothing before signing to a label for 2002's Way of the Dead, an album that truly introduced them as a hard rock band with elements of avant-garde and jazz. On Yakuza records, folks like Ken Vandermark and Fred Lonberg-Holm would rub elbows with members of Mastodon; founding member Bruce Lamont, the lead singer and saxophonist/clarinetist, was the tying thread between the musical worlds. Yakuza steadily released records for the next 10 years before taking a decade-long break, while Lamont would stay active, playing saxophone, participating in bands like Bloodiest and Corrections House, and tending bar at Empty Bottle. Finally, last year, Yakuza picked up where they left off with Sutra (Svart), a record that again dipped its toes into seemingly disparate genres--thrash, prog, free jazz--and managed to churn out a cohesive stew.

From left to right: Marshall, James Staffel, Lamont, Matt McClelland

Sunday night, the Sutra songs sounded among the best, standing tall with Yakuza's back catalog. Set opener "Capricorn Rising" gradually built into a chug, Lamont alternating between sax flourishes and a chanted vocal. Matt McClelland's brawny guitar carried "Burn Before Reading". In general, the rhythm section--bassist Jerome Marshall and drummer James Staffel--provided steadily swirling noise to contrast the unpredictability of McClelland's riffs and Lamont's incantations. Perhaps the most moving moment of the night was when Lamont, visibly choked up, dedicated a song to the late Mars Williams, a fellow Chicago area journeyman saxophonist who passed away late last year.

McClelland

Lamont, Staffel, & McClelland

Sybris' Shaun Podgurski and Angela Mullenhour

Speaking of decades of inactivity, how about Sybris? The local stalwarts, who have released only two records, 2005's self-titled LP and 2008's Into the Trees, played their first Chicago show in 10 years last summer and are now gearing up to release their long-shelved third album Gold on Hold (Absolutely Kosher), recorded in 2011. It's very easy to play "what if?" with the four-piece, as their unique mix of epic, feelings-heavy indie rock and nervy rhythms could have seen them further soar among beloved sounds and bands of the 2010s: the early 2010s emo revival, the late 2010s post-punk revival, Screaming Females, and Hop Along, to name a few. On Sunday, they primed the passionate crowd with clear old favorites, like the jagged "Hurt Hawk", country-tinged burner "Burnout Babies", slow love song "Blame It On The Baseball", and the thunderous "Something About A Darkhorse Or Whatever". As if to whet our appetites for what's to come, they ended their set with two Gold on Hold tracks: the unreleased "Dance" and driving album opener "Watermelon". For music fans all over the globe, Gold on Hold should be one of the more anticipated upcoming releases of the remaining year.

From left to right: Podgurski, Mullenhour, Clayton DeMuth, Phil Naumann

Naumann

Podgurski, Mullenhour, Naumann

From left to right: Oxbow's Dan Adams, Eugene Robinson, Greg Davis, & Niko Wenner

In between the two Windy City phoenixes? None other than San Francisco experimentalists Oxbow, who used the most of their 40-minute set, not limiting the sensory experiences and media to just music. Indeed, for five-plus minutes, they played a short film, whose images, sound-tracked by a droning instrumental, repeatedly cut to black, as if they were pulsating. All this time, they were burning incense. When guitarist/keyboardist Niko Wenner, bassist Dan Adams, and drummer Greg Davis finally entered the stage, they launched into the pseudo funk of Thin Black Duke highlight "A Gentleman's Gentleman". Eventually, vocalist Eugene Robinson sauntered on and did what he does: screech and wail devastating lyrics, his voice raw as hell, and expressively dance and convulse. Similar to Yakuza, Oxbow's most recent songs, from last year's Love's Holiday (Ipecac), sounded the most fresh and urgent: "The Night the Room Started Burning", "Icy White & Crystalline", and "Lovely Murk". The album version of the last one features Kristin Hayter, who Robinson made sure to mention was not there but is playing Thalia Hall in a couple months. Nonetheless, Wenner admirably filled in, emulating her soulful vocal turn. And the band took time to remember another experimental genius and collaborator who passed last year, Peter Brötzmann, but made sure to take advantage of Lamont's saxophone prowess, having him fill in on tempo-changing freak-out "Cat and Mouse". (Though "Cat and Mouse" was released on their sophomore album King of the Jews, their live version with Brötzmann has become well known.) While the three bands who played on Sunday might have constituted an odd group on paper, all share one of the preeminent qualities of good performers: unbridled passion.

Robinson

Robinson & Wenner

Wenner & Robinson

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