Patti Gran - vocals, guitar
Liam Kimball - vocals, bass
Rachel Shindelman - keyboard, vocals
Nick Kraska - drums

What is it about the new black? Why do we care what is edgy, what is shocking, what is at the front of the wrong line and the back of the right line? Just for the sake of being close enough to make your ears perk at the clamor of its declaration?

Chicago’s New Black literally came out of nowhere with their self-titled debut in 2004, grabbing the attention of America’s indie music bizsters, journalists and record-shelf searchers alike. But unlike many of their counterparts, who would navigate a path back and forth across the US attempting to gain a following, New Black would debut a new sound to their European neighbors first. In fact, by the end of the tour, the band would have played more countries than it had US cities.

In a year’s time, just before the writing and recording of their second record, the band would be invited to open for the likes of VHS or Beta, Electrelane, Secret Machines and Coachwhips. Rough Trade would include them on its Best of 2004 Compilation alongside Elliot Smith, Sonic Youth, Bloc Party and more. The touring and accolades, as well as personal exposure to their peers would help distill an even newer black to its explosive core.

On TIME ATTACK, Patti Gran (guitar/vox) delivers, begs and demands in a style that is as submissive as it is dominant. It’s a tug and pull both screamed and spoken in a counter-play with Liam Kimball’s (bass/vox) strong, sure and melodic approach. It’s banter from song to song, that can sometimes come off as two songs caught somewhere between coming together and pulling apart.

The record’s lead track, Khalil!, has Gran asking: “What else can I do, what else can I be, send his love to me,” in utter desperation. Kimball slowly chimes in through track 2 until Nothing Scares Us blows TIME ATTACK wide open to the realm of pure pop sensibility and confidence. But the record is so much more than Gran’s gasping for air, unrestrained delivery, and bee-swarming guitar sounds—or Kimball’s cocksurety and flexible bass playing. TIME ATTACK can slowly fall into trance-like 80s grooves, with Rachel Shindelman (keys/vox) setting the moods. Shindelman, who carries the album’s “hit,” Big Haus, brushes and stabs like a Pollock painting, while live-in boyfriend Nick Kraska (drums) delivers danceable backbeats and punk rock immediacy with the help of occasional digital rhythms.

This is a sexy, creepy, infectious and art-damaged record that rewards with something new on every listen. While it has elements of contemporaries and classics alike (Le Tigre, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lost Sounds, Death From Above 1979, Sonic Youth and X-Ray Spex, ESG, Suicide, X, and Siouxsie And The Banshees respectively), New Black certainly has a sound that's all their own. Fans of both new wave and punk are gonna be happy with this one.

Overall, New Black’s second collection of recordings steps on and off the line between pop and art. The union of pairs of girls and boys, rhythms and melodies, and clean and dirty all make what New Black is becoming. So New Black is the new black, yes? Yes! It is edgy, shocking and just as wrong as it is right. It’s the beginning of a band that will change, move and inspire a younger generation for the “Time Attack” to come.