WEEK OF 2/28/20

Sex No Babies / all 📷 : Kyle Land

Praise Art! Literally. Praise Art, in everything you do. This is the mantra of Sex No Babies. The art hop trio of scenester allstars dropped their second in a three piece vinette series, and we were on hand at Sleeping Village last Monday to celebrate. They brought along the laid back jazz of Cozy and the amped up psych pop of Little Church for what was a soulfully generous evening at the comfortably spacious Avondale venue.

With their mellow jazzy vibe, Cozy opened the night on a positive note, drawing in the growing crowd with a free and easy mix of alt-R&B, funk, and jazz with a definite electro pop bent. The easy rhythm laid down by Ricardo Herrera (drums) and Ben Moroney (bass) serve as a backdrop for Corey Anderson’s inventive guitar work and haunting trumpet lines, all in service to the cooing vocals of Josephina Opsenica. Her effortless delivery and beautiful tone create a velvet layer of sound that blends with the instrumentation to create a unified blanket of soft grooves. Their 2018 EP Ice Cold Summer is a great example of how their sound translates live.

Little Church is developing a rabid fan base and their core fans and friends showed to cheer them on, many sporting a fashion forward look as bold as fronter Chelsea Foss-Ralston’s signature ensembles. Her fearless looks match the eclectic style of the group with their adventurous combo of synth pop, psych rock, and classic hooks, that blend into an addictive concoction; a sonic love affair with the last fifteen years of indie music boiled down into a single entity. Backed by a rhythm section of Christian Whiting (bass) and Sean McConnell (synth), along with a brand new drummer, Foss-Ralston is loaded with the kind of star quality that comes through in every aspect, from her powerful yet floaty vocals to her effect laden guitar work. Look no further than last summer’s It’s Not You EP for evidence that Little Church is likely going places.          

Born from the proximity of the members living together in Hostel Earphoria, Sex No Babies melded the talents of the man called “Uncle,” Rahim Salaam, a fixture of the local scene for over a decade, with producer Ben Moroney, and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Gladly. An adventurous mix of hip hop, house, art rock, and poetic expression Sex No Babies is unlike anything else in the scene, warping the mind with their original expressions. Donning matching jumpsuits, Moroney and Gladly flanked an unrecognizable Salaam, in a wig, sunglasses and patchwork robe, for a far too short set that ran through their relatively small catalog with an ease that flew by in a blink. Make sure to check out their one of a kind tunes on scene two, and be on the lookout for the third installment of their vignette series coming soon.   

For more on Sex No Babies check out our interview with them from last fall.    

Salaam and Moroney also run the weekly radio show What About Chicago?!. It’s a must listen for anyone trying to stay in the know about the Chicago arts community. Matthew Gladly’s band Glad Rags is playing at Sleeping Village on March 7th with Ode and Antony and the Tramps tix are $10.          

- Kyle Land