National Photo Committee

***"Friction can be unwanted—the unintended clash of things not built to interact. It can also provide the grip necessary for energy and movement. Friction can abrade, but it can also propel. For Chicago quartet National Photo Committee, friction serves as both an irritant and a power source. First, there’s the frayed-denim baritone of singer/guitarist Maxwell Bottner, which resembles the wry drawl of David Berman channeled through the froggy gusto of Calvin Johnson. It’s not always a smooth process, that channeling. Collisions occur; bumps are hit; sparks fly. But the resulting dissonance carries a strange frisson, if you’ll pardon the French. Bottner’s dog-eared yet nimble vocals exude a longing that’s simultaneously innocent and jaded, ironic and earnest. Is he trying to fool us, or himself? Maybe he’s just delivering the kind of wisdom that you can’t reduce to a lesson —or offering up some foolishness we can learn from. Rollicking ballad 'The Bishop,' for instance, begins with a mystifying parable about a man turning into cheese (I think) and goes on to include cocky declarations like 'Love’s a sexy puzzle,' and 'I’m the devil’s best masseuse, and that’s a fact.' Bottner sings it all with fuck-it-bucket conviction but leaves a sneaking suspicion that he’s not entirely on the level...

National Photo Committee is a Chicago band that sounds like they grew up in Virginia and got kicked out of college in Olympia. They have an unruly streak that suggests a strong DIY ethos and a ramshackle approach that doesn’t quite camouflage their ambition. They’ve got rough edges and bent corners. Their songs scrape against each other, with attendant jolts that sometimes force changes of direction. Friction may knock National Photo Committee around, but it doesn’t slow them down or stop them from getting where they need to go."—Reed Jackson