Claim to Fame
The depth and diversity of the current Chicago rock scene make it easy to forget how fallow things were around here in the 80s, when great bands–Eleventh Dream Day, Big Black, Naked Raygun–could be counted on one hand. Worse yet, that underdeveloped scene was crippled by a divisiveness that some bitter vets have never managed to shrug off. Vic Bondi, front man for Articles of Faith, one of Chicago’s earliest hardcore bands, is still bitching about that bygone era. “The Effigies and the old Evanston crew still plodded around in their steel-toed boots pretending they were British,” he gripes in the liner notes to the AoF retrospective recently released on two separate discs by Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label. “AoF and the hardcore kids were building a national scene in the city.”
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It’s too bad Bondi comes off as such a humorless blowhard on paper, because the music on Complete Vol. 1 1981-1983 doesn’t need nostalgic self-congratulation to justify its rerelease. The disc, which contains the group’s first and best album, Give Thanks (recorded by Bob Mould and released on his Reflex label in 1984), a couple of early singles, and an unreleased live track, documents the formation of the band’s sound, which combined early thrash, the pile-driver chug of Motorhead, and even a hint of CCR-style roots rock. Bondi is right–AoF did help establish a distinctly American hardcore, one with more affinity for flannel than black leather. The band also managed to be political without being too preachy–the anticonsumerist manifesto “What We Want Is Free” sounds more relevant now than ever. Complete Vol. 2 1983-1985, on the other hand, serves as a reminder of the band’s inability to develop: as AoF attempted to expand their sound with bland acoustic strumming and faux funk, the lyrics grew heavy-handed and Bondi tried to croon, revealing the limitations of his voice.
World 2002 (Narada World) is a good place to start remedying that situation. Although I’m generally no fan of the sort of multiculti mishmashes Starbucks and Putumayo put out, this two-disc compilation smartly showcases an emerging aesthetic in which ancient traditions mix with Western pop ideas while retaining their native identities. Compiled by influential BBC DJ Charlie Gillett, the collection features 37 acts from 24 countries, and the styles represented include fado (Portugal’s Mariza), brass-laden Gypsy folk (Mostar Sevdah Reunion), pentatonic Ethiopian funk (Gigi), flamenco (Spain’s Estrella Morente), and Tuvan electronica (Sainkho Namtchylak).
