Last Minute Plans: Family Underground
By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 21, 2011 3:30PM
Not to be confused with the similarly-titled Gathering of the Juggalos documentary, Family Underground is a Denmark-based drone duo little-known in these parts. Their music is fairly inaccessible not only because they traffic in a genre esoteric by nature, but also because they stick closely to their hometown and don’t seem to exist on the Internet (aside from a practically abandoned Myspace page). But right now, the duo is touring the states, and tonight they’ll be stopping by Chicago for two rare, intimate performances.
Family Underground began as a trio named F.L.O.W.E.R. back in 2000 before changing the moniker and transforming into their current arrangement. They also released a lengthy list of albums along the way. But despite their constant stream of output, much of their material is hard to acquire unless you happen to live in Denmark - many of their releases are available only locally on cassette or CD-R. For example, their latest EP, Pariah, is a limited cassette release, so here's hoping they bring along copies tonight or we may never get our hands on one.
The album prior, Demon Parade (2010), is a 4-song collection of ominous soundscapes. Opening track “Son of the Morning” could easily be the soundtrack to a horror movie, featuring a constant, mechanized hum and agonizing vocals. But the album’s standout tracks, parts 1 and 2 of “Singly Lost, Eternally Gained,” are much less eerie, led by reverb and a thick, hazy wall of noise that ultimately culminate in a violent storm.
Tonight’s first Family Underground performance is at 5 p.m. at Permanent Records. Then they’ll head over to Wicker Park performance space Enemy for a show at 9 p.m. Also playing the Enemy show will be local experimental acts Neil Jendon, Swim Ignorant Fire, and The Subtraction.
Family Underground perform today, Thursday April 21 at Permanent Records, 1914 W Chicago, 5 p.m., Free, All Ages
Family Underground also perform tonight at Enemy, 1550 N Milwaukee, 9 p.m.