via//chicago

"And she'd love to leave for someplace nice and cold"

With the onset of a major winter storm heading our way, we can no longer delay the season's onslaught. But take heart because, after an extended break, via//chicago is back up and ready to roll again. No fancy redesign like I might have mentioned earlier, I figured I'd rather get back to posting and updates than continue to put off and put off the work for that. It may still come, just not sure when that may be. So for now, welcome back and on with the show...

Several years ago, after moving away from Chicago, Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba ended up living in a house with Josiah Steinbrick - another punk survivor (F-Minus). Lucky for us, another blossoming musical partnership was formed. Steinbrick played Skiba some instrumental tracks, peaking the latter's interest and he went to work on some lyrics to go along with them. Flash forward to 2006 and we find Skiba taking a break from the Trio long enough to drop a full Heavens album and head out on a tour. The material these two have come up with is quite compelling, even if you aren't a big fan of Skiba's main band. This stuff is, believe it or now, even darker and more brooding that much of the Trio stuff - due to not only Skiba's gloomy lyrics but also because of Steinbrick's moody compositions. The bio mentions influences as varied as Sisters of Mercy, Brian Eno, and Television. While I don't know about the Television stuff, the Eno and Sisters comparisons are probably pretty fair. The debut, Patent Pending, owes a bigger debt to post-punk than it does to the leaner punk of their other projects, but that doesn't mean this stuff is lacking in hooks. "Dead End Girl" is one of the poppier offerings on the album, but the last several minutes should give you a good feel for the entire album. (Click here to buy the album from Insound)

Heavens - "Dead End Girl"