July 10, 2025
Here we are in the middle of Chicago’s summer concert season, and that might make you think of picnicking at Ravinia, sipping rosé on a blanket at Pritzker Pavilion, or, for the younger crowd, Lollapalooza at Grant Park. And that stuff goes on. But it could be plausibly argued that the weeknight show at the neighborhood bar is where culture is being shaped, where guitars drown out bar counter conversations and tracked-in sidewalk grit mixes on the floor with spilled PBR. And, occasionally, blood. And so, on a Thursday evening I drove through thick traffic and equally thick humidity – sans blanket and rosé – to Chicago’s Sleeping Village to see Italian avant-garde rock outfit Buñuel on their first U.S. tour. Rounding out the lineup were Today is the Day and Spiritual Poison, forming a trio of experimental music pioneers whose non-traditional sounds would be right at home in a dim room on a hot night.
Spiritual Poison
Kicking things off was Spiritual Poison, solo project of Primitive Man’s Ethan Lee McCarthy. Accompanied by abstract visuals, McCarthy filled the room with immersive, primarily electronic, textural and ambient soundscapes. These drawn-out pieces had a psychedelic quality as well, quite suited to a dark club. Fans of dark ambient like Nordvargr and Funerary Call should definitely check out Spiritual Poison.
Today Is The Day
Steve Austin’s long-lived project Today is the Day has been tagged with all manner of description: noise rock, noise metal, experimental metal, etc. You probably couldn’t list them all, and that’s a testament to how varied and distinctive his music is. And much of it is pretty abrasive, as it deals in the darker side of human nature. Austin didn’t show any signs of slowing down. They played material primarily from the 90s and early 2000s records like Supernova, Willpower, and In the Eyes of God. Rumor has it a new record is coming soon…
Buñuel
Not long after the release of their 2024 opus Mansuetude (their fourth record), Buñuel has given the U.S. a proper tour. Prior to this, you’d have to have caught them in Europe.
The instrumental section of the band – Xabier Iriondo on guitar, Francesco Valente on drums, and David Hémery on bass – emits music that is explosive, pummeling, unpredictable, cinematic, angular, and very often downright catchy. And they are quite animated on stage, as though the sounds themselves emerge through the limbs and require a thorough wringing for full extraction. Meanwhile, vocalist Eugene S. Robinson (ex-Oxbow) looms over the crowd, deftly twisting and molding his voice through a wide gamut of inflection as he delivers tales of the unseemly side of humanity. Really, Eugene’s voice is another instrument in the band and it’s clear he puts a lot of consideration into phrasing and delivery.
Mansuetude was one of my favorite records of 2024 (and I continue to play it), and the three prior albums are also of very high quality. It was great to see these songs live in a small setting and to see bands that are innovating musically while retaining quite a bit of musicality.
