While Chicago indie supergroup Doom Flower were getting to work on their new second album, Limestone Ritual (Record Label), they hit a speedbump that would’ve killed a lesser band’s momentum. As Tribune critic Britt Julious reported in a November profile, drummer Areif Sless-Kitain couldn’t make it to the recording sessions, and because he’s such a cool, intuitive, in-the-pocket player (with a list of credits that includes the Eternals and Brokeback), he’s difficult if not impossible to replace. Front woman Jess Price (of Campdogzz) and bassist Bobby Burg (Love of Everything, Joan of Arc) made the best of the situation by lifting drum tracks from a breakbeat record, which gives Limestone Ritual a distinct trip-hop effervescence. Matt Lemke (Wedding Dress) embellishes the spartan sampled percussion with svelte synths that give the songs a futuristic lounge mystique. Limestone Ritual doesn’t have a single focal point—the interplay between Price’s tendrils of guitar and Burg’s resonant, minimal bass is as engrossing as Price’s half-mumbled singing. The sublime, easygoing guitar melody of “Break Cycle” exudes a sleepy optimism, which is exactly the tone I’d like to see for the music of 2023.
Doom Flower Chris Sutter (Meat Wave) and the Deepdogs DJs (members of Deeper) open. Thu 1/5, 8:30 PM, California Clipper, 1002 N. California, $5, 21+
