Writin’, Rockin’, and Politics
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I have to give DeRogatis credit for inviting the same criticism he loves to dish out, and judging from the album he’s a solid drummer, fueling the quartet’s jackhammer grooves with precision and style. But unless I’m missing some elaborately constructed and meticulously maintained joke, Vortis is among the most boring and didactic punk bands I’ve ever heard. Despite superficial touches of funk (“White Skin Black Heart,” complete with an uncredited Public Enemy sample) and two-beat country (“Shade Tree Mechanic”), Take the System Down is an exercise in generic three-chord stomp, with boilerplate metallic riffing by guitarist G-Haad and bassist Johnny Los.
According to DeRogatis, Vortis is interested in raising questions about the world, and Weinstein applauds anyone who shakes up the status quo, whether on the left or the right. On “Unabomber” he cheers, “Unabomber, Unabomber, fight fight fight / Unabomber, Unabomber, dy-no-mite!” His essay on the band’s Web page (www.angelfire.com/indie/vortis/vortisfaq.html) takes great pains to place the band in the context of vorticism, a British art movement of the early 20th century, but his professorial stance is undercut by songs like “Fellow Traveler,” in which he declares, “We face a deadly foe, a mean fuckin’ ho / It’s a beast with many names and it has a thousand shames / Capitalism, globalism, high technology / Whichever way you say it, it’s a piece of scatology!”
Rubberoom, Chicago’s fiercest and most underrated hip-hop group, burned itself out about two years ago, but rising from the ashes comes Opus, the new project of producers Mr. Echoes, aka Fanum (Kevin Johnson) and Isle of Weight (Aaron Smith). On their recent debut EP O.O.O. (Ozone Music) the duo continue to craft tracks of harrowing austerity and toughness, joined by a mix of veteran Chicago MCs (Earatik Statik, Thawfor) and underground heavies (Atmosphere’s Slug, Mike Ladd, and I Self Divine of the Micranots). The beats are lean and hard, and the drifting atmospheric textures consistently evoke feelings of paranoia and dread. First Contact, a full-length CD with guest spots by Aesop Rock and Rubberoom’s Lumba, is due in October.
