San Francisco Music News

The Russian Circles are a hard-working band that have an insane summer tour schedule. Looking at their tour dates for June, the 19th stood out as a shining light being the only night off for the three poor boys from Chicago. They are probably just exhausted already. The Russian Circles are a post-rock/post-metal experimental prog band that plays a heavy set. Their sophomore album, Station consists of 6 lengthy tracks that bleed together into one 45-minute soundscape. The show at Slim’s on June 12th was much the same. When their set ended I thought they had only played a few songs because, like their tour, they hardly stopped to rest at all. The lack of vocals allowed the music to speak for itself. There was no over meaning or message; just the eclectically tribal drumming of Dave Turncrantz, the hypnotic ostinati of Mike Sullivan on guitar, and the strong and heavy bass guitar of Brian Cook. The band seem to have a respectable group of loyal, head-bobbing fans. Most videos of them performing live on YouTube have been rated over one hundred times and still maintain a full five-star rating. I know this isn’t the type band to move around the stage a lot, and dancing in the crowd would definitely get some strange looks, but I thought the Russian Circles had room for at least a bit more energy. Maybe taking a few dates off the touring schedule to rest, relax, and do something other than drive and play shows would be worth the sacrifice.