Jan. 15--Kevin Cribbin, the 33-year-old bassist in Oozing Wound, never had any illusions about becoming a rock star or going "pro" as a full-time musician. He knows the music he gravitates toward is a bit too fringy and extreme for that. But playing in Oozing Wound with guitarist-singer Zack Weil and drummer Kyle Reynolds has its benefits.
"Where we're at, music is more to keep us sane," he says. "It's medicinal."
Oozing Wound's strong medicine finds the trio cutting across thrash metal, progressive rock, stone rocker and psychedelia with serious intensity and seriously dark, sometimes darkly humorous lyrics. On the band's second album, "Earth Suck" (Thrill Jockey), Oozing Wound continues a Chicago tradition of strong, non-traditional heavy albums in recent years from the likes of Pelican, Bloodiest, Yakuza, Minsk, Russian Circles and many more.
Cribbin takes a phone call in his North Side home after coming indoors from his day job delivering sandwiches on a bicycle -- a job made more challenging than usual on this day by subzero wind-chill and snow-covered roads. "Lots of fish tailing today," he says. "It would be ideal not to have a day job -- that's the dream. But we have no misconceptions about that being very possible. If we could justify taking two weeks off work so it's not an expensive vacation (to tour) that would be nice."
The bassist has been playing in bands since he was attending high school in the northwest suburbs in the '90s. "I never thought of it as a hobby," he says. "It's more a ridiculous obsession. I dropped out of Columbia (College) as a photo major because I was cutting so many classes to make fliers, go to band practices and play shows. I realized that I can't do this casually."
Cribbin picked up the bass because he was influenced by "weirdo" bands such as Primus, and gravitated toward more progressive-leaning, mind-bending music as he became a regular on the Chicago scene, including the well-respected Unmanned Ship. Weil and Reynolds also bounced among numerous bands, previously playing together in Cacaw. When Weil came up with a batch of songs that didn't fit stylistically with any of his other bands, he envisioned an electronic-oriented solo project. But then he brought in Reynolds, who in turn recommended Cribbin.
"When Kyle and I first heard the songs, they were fast, relentless and challenging," the bassist says. "We started jamming, coming up with a language with each other. I thought, how do I fit in tonally with these songs? I decided to make it blown out, distorted, nasty. In the past, I have been an effects-pedal junkie. But with this band, I wanted to keep it really simple, put some limitations on what I could do with the bass to keep it focused."
The band was buzzed about what was happening in the rehearsal space as the songs evolved, but the first show at Empty Bottle in 2012 presented a new challenge, at least for Cribbin. "I remember being slightly nervous. I remember thinking we were working really hard at this new thing, and I hope this goes well. All the bands I was in (previously), they were things I started or was involved with heavily. This was more like a supporting role, and I was focused on how can I make these things work together. It wasn't just built on vibe and energy, but this technical attack, very focused. It was exciting, intriguing. And the show was a blast."
The trio began recording, then opened a show for Black Pus, who are signed to the well-respected indie label Thrill Jockey and later were offered a deal. The hard-hitting debut, "Retrash," came out in 2013, followed a few months ago by "Earth Suck." It's a more ambitious album, with expansive pieces blurring the genre boundaries and oozing cynicism about pervasive greed, entitlement and the death of the planet. It's all done with tongue-in-cheek flair. Just as the band has little use for metal purists, it finds the humor in even the most dire circumstances in its lyrics. Tracks from the new album such as "Bury Me With My Money" and "Hippie Speedball" manage to sound nasty and wickedly funny at the same time.
"You're in a band and stuck in a box with wheels, you devolve into inside jokes, weird puns -- you're barely communicating in the normal sense," Cribbin says. "We're always saying things that we think are funny and writing down a list of song titles, motivated by whatever sounds hilarious. All three of us have the same outlook on life. We like a lot of metal and sort-of-metal, but it's a culture that's too serious. Certain people, you wonder can they ever have fun? The world is pretty bleak and bad most of the time, and drowning in that, being a nihilist, you just pile more on it. You have to laugh at that s---. We're basically three dudes playing rock music. At the end of the day, you feed your cat and watch a funny TV show. Very few of us are living in a cabin in Norway by themselves getting ready to wither and die."
Also worth seeing
Zola Jesus: The singer dissipates some of the sonic mist on her fifth album, "Taiga," in achieving a new punch and directness. 8 p.m. Friday at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave. $15, $18, $20; lh-st.com
Twin Peaks: The Chicago quintet has been touring relentlessly behind its deep, widely varied second album, "Wild Onion," a major step up for the band in songcraft and sonic clarity. 7 p.m. Sunday at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St. $15, Metrochicago.com
Greg Kot co-hosts "Sound Opinions" at 8 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday on WBEZ-FM 91.5.
greg@gregkot.com
Twitter @gregkot
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Metro, 3730 N. Clark St.
Tickets: $20; metrochicago.com
