The Slow Bark

Stander is a band defined by their bold approach to making music as mercurial as it is cathartic. The trio of guitarist Mike Boyd, bassist Derek Shlepr, and drummer Stephen Waller draw from disparate influences to marshal bombast with off-kilter grooves, otherworldly effects  and  flashes of elegant melody. Rooted in both heavy music and Chicago’s flourishing experimental and improvisational community, Stander infuse  nuance into emotionally potent pieces as gripping as they are affecting. With their debut release The Slow Bark, Stander transpose introspection, resentment  and  crippling self-doubt into music that is singular, stirring and dauntless.

Capturing the essence of indescribable feelings from the mundane to the profound is central to Stander’s music. The largely instrumental pieces throughout The Slow Bark illustrate their unique ability to compose dynamic narratives which embody those ineffable emotions. “Cold Fingers” serves as a cogent metaphor for losing control by juxtaposing unexpected shifts in tone from Latin-inflected syncopations to blackened blasts which culminate into the crushing defeat of the song’s climax. Moments of volatility are born from a deft contrast between repetitions and fluctuations in meter and tempo which reflect the surreal in everyday life. The impassioned sludgy churn of “Cicada Tree” gives way to the album’s most consonant and dreamlike track “The Light That Came From Beside The Sea,” whose title is one of several references to the enigmatic Mayan text Popul Vuh.

Diverse textures are used throughout The Slow Bark to shape each piece’s character. Layered effects on tracks like “Cutting Ants, Conquering Ants” intensify an air of anxiety. Feelings of nostalgia on the album are invoked by haunting delays, where cavernous reverbs create a sense of loneliness and longing. The crushing, penultimate moments of “Cold Fingers” is bolstered by obscured layers of piano, 12-string guitar, and the album’s single use of vocals. The Slow Bark’s increasingly bleak arc is mirrored by the progression of vignettes that glue the pieces together. As they move from subtle loops and quasi-natural sounds to the utterly ominous, these vignettes further demonstrate Stander’s skillful use of emotive sounds.

Following in the tradition of midwestern instrumental acts before them such as Tortoise, Pelican, and Russian Circles, Stander defies categorization. Propelled by a sense of disquiet, their music is endlessly fluid and searching. On The Slow Bark, Stander unite that defiant spirit with an emotionally blistering core to exhilarating ends