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| I:Scintilla press photo/ISCINTILLA.COM |
Industrial corn school transplants I:Scintilla have a cult following and goth cred to spare. Too bad everyone around them doesn’t seem to be up to their level.
The 1300 block of West Lake Street is an odd place for an underground music venue. Not as out-of-place as Chinatown is for Reggie’s, but almost.
I: Scintilla applied their foolproof stage formula Jan. 20 at The Bottom Lounge -- three solid players and a tattoo-laced, sex-kitten front woman, Brittany Bindrim, who could not only be a model if she wanted but has the voice, lyrical talent and stage presence to make her way more than mere eye candy.
The Bottom Lounge sits brand new and unassuming beneath the vast expanses of overhead L stops on the far edge of the West Loop. Despite its name, the building is eerily pristine and full of open spaces. The place was aiming for classy punk dive but, mystifyingly, landed on sports bar.
The band formed in Champaign-Urbana in 2003, and, in a college town that’s known for 21st century-style thrift store indie rock, they’re a dark and pleasant surprise. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, they’ve already developed devoted fans across Europe and a growing following in the States.
I:S’s previous efforts, Havestar in 2006 and Optics in 2007, were mostly re-hashings of the same handful of tracks as the band underwent line-up changes and refined their style. Slated for release early this year, their new album, Dying & Falling, is full of strong new tracks that push their already distinct techno-fused metal sound into something different with every song.
Surprising then that reception at their Chicago gig wasn’t warmer, especially given the city’s history with Industrial. Bindrim purred, growled, slithered and did all she could to seduce the audience. The crowd had tripled in size since the previous act, whose name I’m a terrible reporter for not catching (probably since what I saw of them wasn’t impressive enough to remember). I was shocked to look up and find so many people since they were completely still.
You wouldn’t have known it from the comatose reaction, but I:Scintilla are a live act full of spit and energy. Electronic-based music is hard to pull off live, but they succeeded with just a laptop and the kind of playing talent that’s impossible to fake.
Maybe the malaise was due scheduling – an icy Wednesday night in an abysmally located venue with soul-sucking concrete aesthetics. More than likely, however, it was the heart-breaking acoustics. For a place obviously conceived with music in mind, the sound quality is easily bested by a high school gymnasium. The sound engineer’s manipulation of the space was even worse.
Apparently, it’s possible to lose an entire rock band, or at least make them sound like they’re playing from inside a Mason jar. Thankfully for the band, the sound seemed to be fixed a few songs into the set.
The harder-edged, alternative sound of a decade ago may have fallen out of favor in the mainstream, but fortunately for us it’s safe with I:Scintilla until everyone else is ready for it again.
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NOTES: Concert review for Arts Reporting at Medill in Winter '10. This wasn't published because the grading process let too much time pass, but it was reported and edited as if it were to be distributed.
