Russian Circles

Related Content

• All This Sasquatch! Talk Is Boring; Let's Talk About The Issues People Really Care About. Like Who's Songs Sound Prettiest At Sunset.
  February 3, 2012
• Beck Jack White are the Most Exciting Sasquatch! Headliners Since ... Beck, 2006
  February 2, 2012
• Bored? Give Mogwai's New Earth Division EP A Listen On The Guardian's Music Blog
  September 8, 2011
• Smooth Sailing
  March 30, 2011
• Capitol Hill Block Party Sunday Favorites: The Cave Singers, Explosions in the Sky
  July 25, 2011

More About

• Tool (Band)
• Brian Cook
• Michael Alan Goldberg
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

A bit like fellow Chicagoans Pelican, the instrumental trio Russian Circles simultaneously draws from two traditions: The post-rock of Slint, Polvo, and Mogwai, et al., with all the attendant knottiness, dynamics, and unorthodox melodies and structures; and the progressive metal of Tool, Neurosis, and Isis, who offer heaviness and crunch but often in atmospheric, experimental ways. Formed nearly five years ago, Russian Circles play with the tightness, awareness, and nuance of a band that’s been together three times as long. As exhilarating and epic a live rock act as you’ll see, they’ll dazzle you with beautiful passages and wallop you with doomy ones -- often within the same song. Oh, and if that bassist looks familiar, that’s because it’s Brian Cook of These Arms Are Snakes and Botch fame. Bottom line: If you ever fell hard for Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, or Mono, and yet secretly wished they were just a tad heavier, you will not want to miss Russian Circles. With Young Widows, Helms Alee. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG
Wed., Nov. 18, 8 p.m., 2009