Spotlight: Heavy-Duty Art Rock
by Paul Amitai
Chicago has long been home to some of the finest expressions of musical
experimentalism. Over the last decade, the city's roots in industrial
(Ministry), avant-jazz (AACM) and post-punk (Big Black) have inspired new
directions and convergences, in turn spurring on a generation of instrumental
rock bands following in the wake of Tortoise and Gastr del Sol.
Proximity to the metropolis has inevitably stirred the juices of Milwaukee musicians. The recent four-day "Post-Everything" music festival at the Cactus Club attested to the growing participation of locals in the outer reaches of rock. On probably the festival's loudest night, the Mahogany Throttle shared the stage with the equally raucous Insidious and The Danglers. The three piece of David White (guitar), Brent Budsberg (bass) and John Gleisner (drums) proved up to the task, firing off shards of frenetically paced riffage, inspired as much by Sonic Youth as King Crimson.
Perhaps what separates Mahogany Throttle most from its heavy-duty contemporaries is their interest in using amplified instruments not only for their visceral, emotional impact, but also for their ability to provoke visual narratives. The group creates tightly structured pieces that shift through various time signatures and textural modes, slowly developing in a way more closely related to cinematic structure than to pop music.
Parallels to other art forms seem apt considering their backgrounds: White also works in film and Budsberg is a highly-regarded conceptual sculptor. Both their art and music show a propensity to make smart work without being overly academic. While the filmic/theatric sensibilities of Yes and Genesis have no doubt inspired the band, they steer clear of the bombast of their forebears by taking a more barebones punk-rock approach.
"If we had vocals, we probably wouldn't be singing about magical fairies," jokes Gleisner.
Mahogany Throttle's sensitivity to guitar texture is represented well on their first album Push Forward for Speed, now available on the local experimental Soutrane Records. The album was recorded by Bill Curtis in a one-day marathon session at the Love Loft, The Danglers' Riverwest home studio. Curtis, a local sound engineer who has worked in the past with Victor DeLorenzo, designs and builds his own microphones and pre-amplifiers which the band used exclusively on the album. This grass roots approach is evident on an album that features only one overdub and all first takes. All of the songs maintain the group's live interplay and harmonic density.
Mahogany Throttle performs with Olo and Sonna at the Cactus Club on Friday, Feb. 16.
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