Sabers Debut Marks A New Beginning For Chicago Rock Veterans

By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 21, 2014 6:00PM

Sabers celebrate the release of their debut album at the Hideout this weekend/Photo courtesy of NoVo Management and Publicity

Like most slow-cooked side projects, Sabers debut Sic Semper Sabers is like an open book revealing the many styles, influences and ideas that came to longtime M's frontman (and CIMM Fest co-founder) Josh Chicoine over the years he spent recording the album.

A well-rounded rock song is followed by a psychedelic folk melody is followed by a peaceful, orchestral track full of horns and acoustics is followed by a rabble-rousing prairie jam and so on. You don't get one side of the Chicago rock scene veteran on Chicoine's new album. You apparently get all of them.

Of course Chicoine has picked up some additional talents in the years it took him to fully develop Sabers and record the band's first tracks. He enlisted several of his fellow Chicago rockers to help round out the band—bassist Edward Anderson (1900s, Mazes), drummer Colby Starck (Head of Femur, Bobby Conn, Faders), keyboard player and percussionist Max Crawford (Faders, Total Pro Horns which backed and recorded with Wilco, and Poi Dog Pondering) and guitarist Shane Schroeder (Hot As Hell).

Recorded in a chilly abandoned Salvation Army church in Andersonville, Sabers' music is finally seeing the light of day this Saturday (March 22) at the Hideout. The band celebrates its album release with a show also featuring Forgotten Species and Kate Adams. Tickets are $8 in advance.