No Doctors

ERP Saints (No Sides)

Chicago transplants No Doctors are best known for being thoroughly unpredictable; the quartet/quintet (recently departed member Clopes acted as the group's "spiritual leader") switches from free-flailing improv to fearsome roadhouse rock, sometimes on the same song. Their first-time listeners might be tempted to ask, "Is this a put-on?" Chauncey Chompers's vocal stylings may be part of the reason for this questioning: His oft-sneering style is easily mistaken for US Maple-inspired irony, but No Doctors' ERP Saints EP is by far the biggest argument for their group's sincerity. While past albums have strong moments, they rely on sonic mire and conceptual trappings, the absence of which here unveils the band's serious jammer chops. Melodic and chuggy, the tone is still artful, as on the blues homage "Floating Woman." Sax blasts and manic background yelps help the linear and somewhat lengthy "Future Awaken Widen" devolve into something close to peak-period Pere Ubu. Recorded at Key Club with Jessica Ruffins and Bill Skibbe shortly before No Doctors left Chicago, ERP Saints is dedicated to the band's former stomping ground of that city's East Rogers Park. Now that most of the band resides in West Oakland, one wonders if they can score the soundtrack to that neighborhood's gentrification with the same obvious love that went into this EP. Here's hoping they're up to the challenge. (George Chen)

31 Knots

Talk Like Blood (Polyvinyl)

31 Knots, whose members are split between Portland, Ore., and the Bay Area, use enough math rock to be musically interesting and are punked-out enough not to rely on compositional backflips alone. The band narrows the gap between the odd and the arty, the attitude of the anarchist and the mutant adorability of pop. Their latest CD, Talk Like Blood, matches their new label (most of the band's earlier works were released by Michigan indie label 54-40 or Fight!) more closely than previous works, with a pop-friendly cast, but the lyrics are still representative of Joe Haege's "knitted brows" songwriting, which plays with semiotics, talk of empires, and good old war cries. "Intuition Imperfected," as well as three other tracks on Talk Like Blood, uses classical samples cut up and looped in a cyborg-orchestra staccato, like previous 31 Knots work, in a way that accents the Romanesque cast of the lyrics. The guitar work is nimble and quick, which is impressive, as Haege is pulling double duty on guitar and vocals. The album is slow at times, such as during the last four minutes of "Chain Reaction," when the music carries a prog pop that is mushy without the edginess found elsewhere on the disc. (Sean Patrick Maylone)

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