- The Ox King
A couple of cross-town festivals are shaping up this week: Tomorrow Never Knows begins on Wed 1/15 with Cayucas at Lincoln Hall, the Jim Jones Revue and Minor Characters at Schubas, and an in-store at Saki with Diane Coffee. The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival is underway as well, which features Tiny Miles & the Big Kids at Tonic Room on Tue 1/14, and the David Grisman Folkjazz Trio at City Winery on Wed 1/15 and Thu 1/16.
It’s a free night of heavy metal at the Empty Bottle, headlined by locals the Ox King. Kevin Warwick says, “‘Negative Reaction,’ the second track from the self-titled, self-released debut of local hardcore-metal punishers the Ox King, works on a couple levels. One, the opening salvo—descending in fury like a boulder tumbling down a cliff—sounds like the second coming of the riffdom laid down by early-aughts stalwarts such as Botch and Coalesce. Two, the band defies hardcore’s ham-fisted stereotypes in a couple ways: David Klingenberg’s vocals combine the usual spitting-and-screaming style with slurring 80s punk attitude, and in the breakdowns the sludgy grooves are offset by crescendos of postrock-like guitar that hover in the background.”
