by Glennon Curran
Imagine you are stuck in a house made up of your subconscious fears. What would you find? Torture, worms, and spoiled meat? Relentless beatings by a pair of crotch-thrusting police officers clad in fishnet? Katy Perry’s Twitter Feed and American rap icon Kanye West? These sick and vile things are apparently what keep Chicago mainstay Blacker Face awake at night. With a heavy dose of gallows humor, the new Harley Foos directed video for “Bad Dream” follows Jolene Whatevr and her band’s attempted escape from these and other nightmarish, god-awful things.
“Bad Dream” is from Blacker Face’s virtuosic, genre shattering EP Think Piece (self-released, April 2018); a quintessential, politically hyper-charged album forged deep in the activist core of Chicago DIY. Since its release, the quintet has played relentlessly on tour and at home, including a string of dates with T-Rextasy, and notable shows with Thunderpussy and ONO. They are currently at work on a follow-up LP, and appear poised to shatter the lofty expectations set by their unparalleled performances and peerless sound. Until then, you are encouraged to explore the houses they’ve already built—much like how world-renowned rap artist and cultural visionary Kanye West does in this latest video.