Veld [LP]

With their second LP Veld, Sick Gazelle take their cosmic and instantaneous group communications to new levels of clarity and structure, without losing the spark of the jam. The band expands from longtime Chicago underground players Eric Block on guitar (Veloce) and vocalist/saxophonist Bruce Lamont (Yakuza) with drummer Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) to include Douglas McCombs (Tortoise) on bass. Though these five tracks are sculpted from improvisations, they've been refined into song forms that illuminate the strengths of both the individual players and the chemistry of the quartet version of the combo. This comes through in Veld's moments of reflective subtlety on tracks like "I'll Come Running," in the foreboding tension of the cinematic "Ocean Always Wins," as well as in the charged grooves and dubby undercurrents of the sideways rocker "Hippies."