Old-school punk in the grittiest, rawest, loudest and snottiest tradition–and I mean all of those adjectives as compliments–the members of Les Voyeurs bring a long history of knocking about the local scene (with previous connections to Piehole, Hot Action and Ministry, among other groups) to a fresh combination of drunken, energetic chaos a la Pegboy, the Circle Jerks and Rocket From the Crypt and a slightly artier edge in the tradition of Killing Joke and early Pere Ubu, most notable via the occasional theremin decorating its raucous debut, “The ABC’s of Walking Wisely,” recorded by Steve Albini and digitally released last June via Digstation.com and CDbaby.
The fancifully pseudononymous musicians–vocalist RottenFinko, drummer Vic, backing vocalist and theremin player T. Sabrina 2.0, guitarist Oi Harrison and bassist Ty Coon–may not be pretty to look at, but the ugly noise of songs such as “Losing Control,” “Sick Religion” and “The Gripper” is simply gorgeous. Sample the din at www.myspace.com/voyeurschicago, or better yet, make a road trip out to Damaged, 11234 Southwest Highway in Palos Hills, to see the group open for the mighty Effigies on Nov. 8. (Call 708-974-1414 for more information.)
