Chicago’s Velcro Lewis Group teamed up with their ol’ buddy John Vernon Forbes earlier this year, and together the combo delivered Seismic Alphabet, a platter of swamp fried psychedelia sure to set your wig on fire! The story has it that when VLG arrived at their Frogg Mountain studio, they found Forbes tuning a piano with a pen and a blowtorch. As the band and keysman are on friendly terms, they couldn’t just kick him out; so instead, the crew opened a bottle of that “whiskey from the garbage” (I’m guessing), and jammed out the album in less than an hour. Now that’s some feral inspiration! Get a load of “Doctor Calling“. Drummer Hawk Colman provides the vocals, and the band reports that they are all “completely spontaneous”. Dude’s got a real Roky Erickson vibe here, singing like a two headed dog foaming from both mouths, while Forbes and the VLG lay down some downwardly spiraling, pitch black blues.
You can catch the Velcro Lewis Group live this Thursday in Chicago at The Burlington Bar, for the Protovulcan Release show. Look for the Plastic Crimewave led duo Werewheels to be on the bill also!
