This year Chicago saw a mob of good rock records: the M's released a Kinks-worshipping debut, 90 Day Men surprised the universe with the prog-rocking Panda Park, and the Ponys slashed into prominence with their punk-psychedelic Laced with Romance. These records proved to be wonderful little pieces of Chicago, each encapsulating not the entire city, but maybe an elevated track or two.
And now No Doctors have released the best and most encompassing Chicago document of the year: ERP Saints, an EP dedicated to the East Rogers Park area they inhabited for two years.
No Doctors have spent three years sputtering around Chicago generating equal amounts of love and hate with the unhinged sexuality and confusion of their live shows. They dress and act like a middling bar band, but onstage they play an almost structure-less form of rock and roll riffage. At their best, No Doctors appear to be playing as many songs as they have band members simultaneously. And it's no wonder such a live show has garnered so much praise in Chicago; their ethic speaks to the city's blues tradition while releasing an unfiltered urban and Midwest fervor.
Their two previous records (2004's Hunting Season and 2002's self-titled debut) tried to document the colossal pain and awe of the No Doctors' live show. The audacity of these records thrust No Doctors into critical prominence, but these records also failed because recreating the live show on tape is simply impossible.
For ERP Saints, though, the band finally went into the studio and got recorded by professionals; the results are nothing short of astounding. Before this record, some fans questioned whether No Doctors could even play their instruments. Now it's obvious: No Doctors are a serious avant-garde rock talent. On ERP Saints, they concentrate on the possibilities of a two-guitar, saxophone, and drums set-up, exploring the noisy rock and roll possibilities of such a configuration. Such clarity will shock any long time No Doctors listener just as much as any previous No Doctors record will terrorize your grandparents.
The EP's opener, "Biggest," starts with an amateur Rolling Stones riff and atypical drumming before transforming into a devastating guitar lick and exciting saxophone skronk. Then, suddenly, a truly Zappa saxophone line meets the guitar halfway and the song becomes nothing less than a baby-killing beast of rock tension. "Floating Woman" is a serious blues power ballad, a bold statement from these power noise freaks. It crashes smoldering guitar noodling against Chauncey Chaumpers' excellent vocal range to create a truly epic classic rock love song. It's an exciting moment for any No Doctors fan: the discovery that the band doesn't just want to blow up or debauch your girlfriend, but also make a powerful emotional statement.
The true centerpiece of this EP, however, is the closing track: the ten-minute long "Future Awaken Widen," easily one of the best songs of the year in any genre. The song's chaotic and bizarre noise builds to reveal a band so tight they can make almost any musical choice. It's as if years of playing totally disconnected ramblings onstage has given the members a musical voice so singular and relentless only now are they willing to unleash its power. The guitars, sax, and drums react and anticipate every powerful yelp from Chaumpers, and the band earns every noise meltdown with focused and inspired musicianship.
I cannot further describe this song except as a trashy wind; it's a gigantic, murderous wind blowing through the streets and starting fires. I don't know how the wind creates flame, but it does. Newspapers and Coca-Cola bottles jump through the streets and flatten people walking to the "El." Wrigley Field unearths itself, flops over on its side, and rolls down Clark Street. A giant spider builds a spider web through the always-disconcerting waffle ceiling of the newly opened Millennium Park. The Sears Tower rockets away. Lake Michigan drinks itself.
Earlier this year -- I'm not sure when -- No Doctors moved to San Francisco. ERP Saints will remain their final Chicago record, and they definitely bled this city out of them. I can only imagine how the teeming SF noise scene will change and challenge the divisive and unruly No Doctors. But this fearsome farewell EP has positioned them as what they've always acted like: a band on the verge of greatness.
1. Biggest
2. Floating Woman
3. Future Awaken Widen