Chicago band The Streets on Fire back in furious fashion with new album, the band's first since 2010

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

Even though the members of Chicago band The Streets on Fire are currently spread out between Chicago, Los Angeles and Nashville, they recently came together to record a new album, "Dead Styles," the band's first album since 2010. 

I had the chance to talk to guitarist and keyboard player Yuri Alexander about the new album.

Q – Great talking to you. Of course, you have a new album, "Dead Styles," that was recently released. It is your first album since your 2010 album, "This is Fancy." Why the big gap between albums? 

We’ve been working on this project on and off since the last album and never really felt a rush to get it done. We spent a lot of time growing as individual musicians and as a group, exploring different ideas and sounds.



Some of the songs go back to 2012/2013 while others were recorded a couple of months ago. It’s a good yearbook for the band, I guess.

Q – What kind of album did you want to make and are you happy with how it turned out? What is the meaning behind the album's title?

The last album, "This Is Fancy," was recorded on a 1981 MCI 8-track tape machine we picked up in Nashville. And the sound of that album had a kind of a psychedelic garage, space rock vibe.

I guess that was the phase the band was in at the time, or at least me personally. When approaching this album, we spent a lot of time experimenting with new tones and instruments.

Drummer Gabe Palomo used the Maschine, which helps make beats that he laid acoustic drums on top of. I learned how to play the harmonium and played the Wurlitzer 200 through effects pedals.

And Chadwick Anderson, in my opinion, really grew as a vocalist and lyricist on this album. We were able to give him some time to write some words down rather than just laying down the blueprint for a song and throwing him in the booth.

We didn’t really have a specific sound or genre in mind when writing the album but I will I say, when I listen to it as a whole now, it is definitely a very aggressive/fast paced release. And I wouldn’t say that was intentional, but when we get together in a studio, we tend to be genuinely excited so the songs usually have a boundless energy.

Q – What is the story behind the band's name?

"The Streets on Fire" is something Chadwick and [bassist] Sebastian Brzek came up with when we were at a 4th of July party and the street ended up catching fire. It was a flippant remark which ended up being the band's name. Mostly because we needed one.

"Dead Styles" was a name that I've had bouncing around in my mind for a while. And with some of the songs being so old, to us, anyways, they seemed like they were once dead and brought back to life.

Q – Your music has been described in different ways. How would you describe it?

While the 'post-punk dance rock' label is certainly appropriate, the undertones of psych-pop, garage, kraut-rock and techno allow The Streets On Fire to take you on a journey from “past' to “now," all while forcing the listener out of the comfort of a bar stool and into a feverish whirling dervish dance fury.

Q – Who are your biggest musical influences and what kind of impact did they have on your music?

I was listening to a lot of XTC, Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Pink Floyd and Bowie as far as older music, but I also love a lot of new albums that sit with me creatively like "Slave Ambient" by The War on Drugs, "Innerspeaker" by Tame Impala and albums by Django Django and Hookworms. 

But with influences, sometimes it doesn’t really even show through to your music because of your own creativity and filters.

Q – Will you be touring on the new album?

I wouldn’t say we would be touring to support this new album because the band members are spread out between Chicago, L.A., and Nashville at the moment, but we will play a Chicago show before the end of the year; kind of a proper “release party,” I guess. 

And we would entertain the right opportunity to do a show if it came along, as well. I would love to play in Eastern Europe someday. 

Q – What do you think of the Chicago music scene and how do you fit into it?

I wouldn’t really know right now, to be honest. It’s been so long since our last show, which I think was at The Metro or Double Door.

I do have a lot of really good friends who are always playing and touring, but I would be remiss if I tried to describe the scene as it is right now.

Chicago is such a melting pot of styles from just one neighborhood to the next which I think is great. And it’s fluid, always changing. Which is healthy.