A gloriously proggy, jammy experience from the Chicago rock band
BBsitters Club is a rock band from Chicago that toes all the lines between prog, classic rock and full-blown jam band music – a groovy, stoned-out experience whichever way you cut it. Comprised of Doug Kaplan and Charlie Olvera on guitars and vocals, Max Allison on bass, and Paul Birhanu on drums, the group orbits Allison and Kaplan’s shared network of Hausu Mountain-adjacent collaborators, but is otherwise a sharp heel turn from their usual experimental electronic stuff. BBsitters Club scratches an earnest guitar band itch, and the group’s debut album BBsitters Club & Party is a propulsive, rollicking rock n’ roll experience.
BBsitters Club offer a little bit of everything here: epic psych-prog stunners (opener “Crazy Horse”), classic rock singles (“Cutie Girls”), mathy time signatures (“Joel Reprise), and dashes of country, post-punk (“Beef Pizza”), and blues (“Carl Blues”). And then there’s the album’s final track – the riffy, anthemic “Dracula” – a certified backyard BBQ banger. Overall the album has a very loose, improvised and chameleonic feel, shapeshifting to whatever musical whim the band is feeling at any given moment. But the music is also extremely angular and technical as well; prepare to be awed by the sheer level of guitar noodling on display from start to finish. The LP definitely gives you a picture of how fun BBsitters Club probably are live.
BBsitters Club & Party is out today. You can purchase it HERE via Bandcamp and preview it below.