by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Chicago’s Nonagon have been making music together for over a decade, carrying on the tradition of Midwestern post-hardcore established in the 90’s by bands like Shellac, Tar, Arcwelder, and the rest of the Touch & Go catalog. With over fifteen years spent playing together, three EPs, and a handful of singles and splits, the trio is set to release their debut full length, They Birds, on March 3rd via Controlled Burn Records (Austerity Program, Polonium). The album could only have been recorded at Electrical Audio (with production from Jon San Paolo) and mastered by Bob Weston, because after all we are talking Chicago post-hardcore here and Nonagon are no fools. They are, however, very tuned in musicians, capable of creating tangled songs that dig themselves deeper as they go, not so much building tension but knotting progressions as an exercise to absolve agitation.
“Hack” is the band’s second single from They Birds, following the recent release of “The Family Meal”. It’s built on a menacing bass line and scraping guitars, with a guest appearance by Robert “Grumpy” Lanham of Sweet Cobra (who have released splits with both Doomriders and Young Widows). It’s a tightly wound song grinds and churns riffs into such density it feels impenetrable from every direction. A song about “the perils of gig-work,” the gritty vocals bring a bit of Rick Froberg with them, sounding like the grizzly vet, always on-call, but never particularly stoked about it. That vibe is captured in the seasick riffs and pounding rhythms, forever wrapped into one another and glued tightly into place.