Silkworm are one of those bands whose members I really, really feel like I owe an apology to. Despite having been a loyal Chicago-area music fan along with having seen their name up on various marquees and within the pages of the Chicago Reader during the second half of their existence, I never actually got around to listening to any of their releases until the aftermath of their very sad and very tragic demise.What makes it even more sad for myself, after having immersed myself within the wonders of records such as In The West, Firewater and Developer for the past 3 or so years now, is that this is a band who would’ve been big favorites of both my friends and I during not only our college years but the subsequent nine or so years of tom foolery that followed when Silkworm were a regularly scheduled Chicago-area feature. If only…
However, the perseverance of Tim Midgett and Andy Cohen gave those of us who procrastinate on discovering the joys of a good thing reason to celebrate when they joined forces with Chris Manfrin (formerly of Seam) and Brian Orchard (formerly of .22) to form Bottomless Pit in 2007. That being said, it was a good year and a half before I let a friend of mine actually drag me out to see them perform live; I mentioned I had a tendency to procrastinate, right?
They have two releases out: the wonderful Hammer of the Gods full-length as well as the equally wonderful Congress EP. Both albums aren’t so much a direct continuation of Midgett and Cohen’s previous group but rather a more refined one; the moody post-punk styled influences are still there but the ratio between the louder and quieter moments aren’t as out of whack as some of the Silkworm material that tended to lean a bit more towards abrasiveness even when they were attempting pretty. Bottomless Pit keep things a bit more reserved by playing their hand closer to their chest; not giving the listener a hint of what’s to come until its actually befallen us. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Bottomless Pit – “Red Pen” (mp3)
(from the Comedy Minus One LP/CD EP, Congress, 2008)
