Post-rock from Chicago is immune from failure. All killer, no filler, and Sick Gazelle are the latest at making every post a winner.
Formed by Bruce Lamont (Bloodiest, Yakuza), Eric Block (Veloce) and regular gun for hire, Steve Shelley (Winged Wheel, Sonic Youth, Disappears), following their 2019 debut, Odum, Sick Gazelle draft in bassist and Chicago post-rock legend, Douglas McCombs, for their follow-up, Veld.
The addition of the Tortoise, Pullman, Brokeback and Eleventh Dream Day man sees Sick Gazelle shedding new skin. Songs that are all about expanse but in the subtlest way. Lamont, known for his brute, bunker sonics, firstly via the alt-metal / post-hardcore collision of Yakuza then through the protracted orchestral sludge of Bloodiest, leads the line on Veld. His saxophone, guiding Sick Gazelle to beautiful metropolises.
With Odum underpinned by Shelley’s distinct drum patterns (so singular that everything he touches just about sounds like a Sonic Youth track), on Veld, McCombs’ involvement sees the band capture a whole new energy as a four piece. For McCombs, Sick Gazelle expands his repertoire, as he travels to places he’s never been before.
From one track to the next, Veld is supremely languid and abstract. Each song, possessing its own language, despite an overall cohesiveness. On opening piece, February, it’s a moment where post-rock breaks from its moorings. Free rock that you think you’ve heard before. But with the ideas presented and drawn from vastly different places, it’s a song that hits differently each time it meets the ear.
Sick Gazelle - VeldFollowing is Hippies, which finds Sick Gazelle expose another side of their personality. With funk-laden jazz-rock, it feels like a perfect companion as you reach the crest of an chemical trip. Pulled back into some form of reality, I’ll Come Running is led by Lamont, whose saxophone emits a rich echo from a great distance. A meditative resonance informed by krautrock and exclusively for borderless terrains.
Ocean Always Wins hits a similar frequency. Psychedelia beyond the fourth wall, however such distance doesn’t deter from how close the music feels. Lamont’s saxophone and Block’s guitar, melting into each other with the residue like a sound bath that massages the mind.
The same residue leaks into Maybe You Were Right – post-rock done right. Here McCombs stamps his mark with something that mirrors the majesty that Pullman found earlier this year on III. An improvisation where cinematic wanderings conjure up the greatest wave of emotional force.
Such as the openness of these compositions, the tracks on Veld alter into a variety of shapes and colours depending on your mood. It’s a freedom of movement through sound indicative of artists presenting the most contrasting, radical ideas. But tempered with patience and care, on Veld, Lamont, Block, Shelley and McCombs create a synergy and spark that grows stronger with every listen.
Veld is out now via Vampire Blues. Purchase from Bandcamp.
