Doors at 8pm. Show at 9pm. $5. 21+
Hailing from the brisk avenues of the Windy City, Mohit Mehta’s Black Lamb Sessions stems from a series of collaborative jams and rehearsals between Mehta (The Golden Rule, City Mice Records) and his friends, ex-bandmates and former collaborators. Inspired by a Midwest autumn and forged with a disarmingly straightforward delivery, Black Lamb Sessions is what you’d come to expect from a guy who grew up flogging his way through Chicago’s rock and punk clubs for the lion’s share of his early twenties.
“Punk is a state of mind, and I definitely have it. With punk it’s just really easy to fall down a rabbit-hole musically, and I wanted to try stepping out of mine with BLS.” Choosing sonic heroes ranging from JJ Cale to Rancid, it’s almost a relief Mehta hasn’t combined punk and country; “That would be a nightmare,” he quips, “I hate folk-punk.” Between his studies in law school and his main punk group, The Golden Rule, BLS grew out of a rare break that came in-between recording and writing for TGR: “We had just finished up writing and pre-pro for our next EP, which was delayed from prep for our set at the Taste of Chicago over the summer, and our drummer up and wrecked his bike soon after. We were essentially f*cked for the year.” Still wanting to work, Mehta took to his acoustic and started writing. “It was a good challenge not writing punk after writing it constantly. I love punk; I’m a punk and I’ve always been a punk, but there’s something to be said about writing meaningful music without relying on volume and speed.”
After hearing Ryan Adams’ cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989, Mehta admittedly went berserk: “I thought it was flipping genius; it was Swift’s first self-described ‘all pop’ record, and you have Ryan Adams here, who takes it and makes into a completely new record devoid of all pop mentality while keeping the same structure. I loved it from the get-go. That’s what I wanted to do with Black Lamb Sessions, write great music without relying on vanity to get people to connect; there’s the challenge.”
Effortlessly combining atmospheric clarity and anthemic guitars, Mehta crafts songs best enjoyed on a long drive or an autumn run. There’s something particularly reminiscent of Mehta’s arena-rock heroes of old in Black Lamb Sessions; as a big fan of AC/DC, Mehta says of his project: “I wanted the guitars to be prominent like all the rock tracks I love. All the rock and roll I was listening to was either jangle-pop or tacky as f*ck. There’s nothing wrong with a solid pop song, but I just got so tired of it all that I decided to do something about it.”
For fans of the War on Drugs, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen and Ryan Adams, Mehta and Black Lamb Sessions carry on, making great music and enjoying the ride. Their first EP, “Vol. 1,” has been praised by music makers and lovers alike and it’s no mystery that Mehta is a proud Chicagoan; “Vol. 2” is due out in December, and with it comes more stories of home.
w/ Tie These Hands and Within Wilds
