In the brief time they’ve been around, Chicago industrial trio Civic Center has dropped five collections of seething electronic music, but it’s all led up to their debut LP The Ground Below in which they take the most thrilling aspects of their creative process, up the production value, and add a slight pop sensibility. “Musically we're constantly striving to find the harmony and disharmony between electronic and organic elements,” explains frontman Jack Brockman, “trying to inject something unusual into industrial.”
Brockman, who also painted the album’s cover, nods to disenchantment as a dominant theme - the vapidity of social graces, the catch-22’s in hive mind morality, the intersection of ethics and brutality. That explanation, while prescient, fails to mention the group’s collaborative and community-driven efforts. Civic Center is comprised of three individuals central to Chicago label and arts collective Chicago Research. Brockman plays music as Understudy and does much of the label’s visual art, bassist Clementine Wink plays as Hen of the Woods, and synthesist Blake Karlson is the de facto head of the imprint. The label functions family style - Chicago Research whips out out batches of tapes from close friends, throws parties, and creates an inclusive environment for populations who have historically been othered by industrial culture.
Like Chicago Research, Civic Center balances bleakness and persistence - The Ground Below is emblematic of that duality. On “Fly on the Wall,” the trio take their industrial trappings to a kinetic place - a compulsively danceable beat and pulsing bassline hold the track down until its catchy, synth-heavy chorus rears its head. “Six times is never enough/Fly on the wall,” Brockman moans deeply. Civic Center is always groovy, even when the tempos slow down, and songs like “High Beams” and “Pencil and Pad” are ideal for head bobbing and subtle sways, adding atmospheric wind instruments to Brockman’s low wail.
Civic Center maintains a firm hold in the industrial tradition, and their music may be dark, but it isn’t nihilistic. On The Ground Below, they still exist in the shadows, but the shadows have never looked more alluring.
supported by 10 fans who also own “The Ground Below”
I like this album, especially for the message that it brings that is really powerful and in line with what happened nowadays. The title and the whole album refers to the Black Lives Matter (red summer refers to the summer of 1919 where white supremacists committed a lot of homicide against black community in USA). The whole album speaks about this, with a lot of reference to historical events (e.g.: 20th August 1619 is the date when the first black slaves were deported in USA). losfastidios
Adventurous Chicago producer Dalibor Cruz makes heavily rhythmic experimental electronic music shot through with jets of noise. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 17, 2022
supported by 10 fans who also own “The Ground Below”
I don't remember if I bought this before or after dabbling into New Beat, but if this doesn't get you interested, I cant imagine much can.
Not to say its a New Beat record per se, hence the name. The sound is as varied as the vibe. Some tracks have a driving high energy that'd kill it in the club. Others have a menacing atmosphere that'd suit any Carpenter or carpenter descended film, or an obscure 80s shoot em up if it were cooler than it could ever be. AtlantaDrifter