V/A - sfumato (1995)

sfumato was the third and final ND campus band CD compilation of the 90s. The first half of this disc is a great encapsulation of the strength of the mid-decade Power 90s scene. Hot tracks from bands that need no introduction to readers of this blog. Everyone sounds great here, as production quality was sharp. The packaging is also pretty cool, with a massive full-color foldout collage of band photos.


"sfumato: the achievement of smoothing or softening of contours creating imperceptible transitions between colors and surfaces: additionally imparting atmospheric effects"



The second half shifts direction some with acoustic and piano balladry, more conventional rock numbers, and jam bands. Long-running latin ensemble Sabor Latino also spice it up a bit with a hot salsa, and Q.E.D. close the CD nicely with a wicked prog-metal jam.

Track listing:
1. "Trophies and Cash" - Krautmiser
2. "Disquiet" - Sweep the Leg Johnny
3. "Bunny" - July
4. "REV" - Las Peligrosas
5. "King Permission" - emiLy
6. "Keeping Up With The Jones'" - decaf.
7. "Identifying Spiders Web" - Tacklebox
8. "Popsicle Crush" - The Roadapples
9. "Con Sabor" - Sabor Latino
10. "Next Time" - Michael G. McGlinn
11. "Hey Joe" - Emily Lord
12. "Fine With Me" - The Amateurs
13. "Lucky Number" - Little Milton
14. "Mellow" - The Big Earl Band
15. "Oddity of a Stranger" - George and the Freaks
16. "Terminal Space" - Q.E.D.

listen/download:


see also:
V/A - The Jericho Sessions (1991)
V/A - Incubus 1993: ND Music Compilation

Sweep The Leg Johnny/Streganona - Split 7” + Bonus Track

It's a bass player face-off. It's a bass-off! Wil Freve (STLJ) and Mark Miyake (Streganona) go one-on-one to discuss this split 7", the camaraderie between the two bands, and of course, who's got the most game.

Wil: After leaving Notre Dame, Sweep The Leg Johnny quickly developed a friendship with an indie-rock band hailing from the University of Chicago: Streganona. In that first year in Chicago, Sweep and Streganona collaborated on a split 7” as well as played a vicious game of band vs. band pickup basketball (we kicked their ass).

Mark: The split 7” (The eSTaTe 003) was the first release from either band that was seriously intended for widespread distribution and was also the first release of the recording label wing of our Chicago and South Bend based music and art collective, The eSTaTe. Both bands were just starting to break into the North Side Chicago scene at this point, and this was intended as something of a calling card for both of us as we did so. Sweep spearheaded the project, asking us to record and release this with them and setting up our recording session in South Bend. We were greatly honored that they did so, as we had already developed a close friendship with them at this early point based on a great deal of love and respect for them as musicians and people. Sadly, however, Wil is right-- we did indeed remain extraordinarily intimidated by them on the basketball court.




TRACK 1: Sweep The Leg Johnny - “Similarities”
Wil: This song marks a bit of a departure for Steve’s saxophone playing, as it leaned towards the melodic element, and not just the rhythmic. I was disappointed with the stylistic pairing of the two songs on this 7” (by the way, if you haven’t listened to Streganona...please do—their music is much better than their basketball skills!). Although I’m a fan of both songs, they make for odd record-mates. I think Sweep should have paired a different song with Streganona’s “...Then I Had A Stroke”.

Mark: I love listening to this song, and it stands as a great record of both what Sweep was doing at the time and the musical direction in which they were heading. It’s also, I believe, their last recording with Wil and Jim, which is, of course, another reason that it represents a critical turning point for the band. When Matt and Scott replaced the rhythm section, the whole sound changed, as Matt played much darker and more straightforward bass lines (as well as adding another vocal element) and Scott played much busier and intense drum parts. These changes obviously marked a significant shift in the band’s sound, and even though Wil and Jim are playing on this track, you can hear the band already pulling a bit in that new direction. This song has a tight, clean, and heavy but intricate sound, and although Wil’s bass line is both representative of his style and a significant element of this song, this ultimately sounds more like the music the band would make after his departure than earlier songs of this era of the band’s songwriting.




TRACK 2: Streganona - “...Then I Had A Stroke”
Mark: We recorded this and two other songs on June 4th, 1995 with John Nuner at Miami Street Studios in South Bend. We intentionally recorded three very different sounding songs that day with the idea of then being able to choose what went best with the Sweep side of the 7”. But by the end of the session, we already knew that we’d be using this one because of the way it turned out in the studio, and because its darker, more sprawling nature (in comparison to the other two) seemed to be a better fit for STLJ’s emerging overall sound anyway. There’s a lot about this song that represents things we were trying out at the time as we were starting to close in on what would become our own more distinctive overall sound. Juxtaposing song parts with different feels, meters and tonal qualities, the two guitars pushing and pulling against and with each other over a steadier but still frequently shifting rhythm section presence, and the often surprisingly conventional overall song structure were all things consciously evident here that we kept refining and utilizing over the next few years. Personally, I was trying a lot of both old things (the style of the fingerstyle fills here sounds to me like something I might have done much earlier in my musical development) and new things (the big distorted bass chords that fill the verses and my attempts to control their expressiveness through their volume, sustain and coloring was pretty experimental for me at the time) in close proximity to each other in order to try to create something fresh and tasteful for me, the band, and the listeners. It took us all a while to figure out how to work things like this together into our cohesive band sound, but the basic building blocks are all here. This was also our last recording with Greg Heygood on drums, as he left us for an actual career (I guess some people consider building computer networks to be a more stable field of employment than punk rock...) just before we recorded How Do You Feel About Plastic? the following year. Greg had a very different style than our next drummer, Brett Norman, and although Brett’s drumming became a central feature of our sound in the following years, it’s always a real treat to listen to these older recordings and hear the original rhythm section as it sounded for so long through this initial phase of our existence. This didn’t end up being the best song we ever recorded, but it was definitely the best choice at the time and has, I think, stood up to the aging process fairly well and still sounds fun to listen to and to remember playing today.

Wil: What a cool friggin’ song “...Then I Had A Stroke” is. I always loved playing with Streganona (although this was tempered by a quiet anxiety that they might “out play” us). Not only was Streganona a great group of “U of C” guys, but they were very good at the style of music they played. I loved their signature, dueling guitars... sometimes sounding complimentary, and sometimes sounding hostile to one another. Streganona also used their dual vocals very effectively in their music. “...Then I Had A Stroke” is a great example of Aaron and Matt’s fine and expressive guitar work, as well as their ability to lay down the law and simply rock out. Matt screaming out, “My god... that wasn’t what I meant to do at all!” ranks up there with some of my favorite musical moments. Greg sets the stage with unapologetic drums, and Mark pushes all three of them with his driving bass lines. Please give this song a listen, as well as other Streganona songs (reviewed in previous blog posts)... you will not regret it!



BONUS TRACK: Streganona - "Angelico de Muerta"
Mark: This was one of the two “extra” songs we recorded at the Miami Street recording session, the other being “Encephalopod,” which ended up being released on How Do You Feel About Plastic? the following year. The reason that we never ended up releasing this song is pretty obvious- it’s a sort of fun, silly song that even we never took all that seriously. We intended it as a sort of change-of-pace B-side in case we ever needed anything like that or in case Sweep thought that it would be better to have a “fun” option for the 7”. This also includes some fine guest vocals by Steve Sostak-- Marlon Brando, eat your heart out…..

listen/download:



(the Bandcamp downloads contain the MP3s, scans of the Streganona postcard insert, 3 of the 4 STLJ basketball trading cards, a copy of the first eSTaTe newsletter, and more!)

Sweep The Leg Johnny - 1995 Demos + Bonus Tracks

(Note: Please see our previous Sweep the Leg Johnny post for a brief disclaimer about the lineup of the band on these recordings and the time period in their history being discussed here.)

When I reminisce on my days with Sweep, I always think of the period immediately after we moved to Chicago from South Bend. By this time, we were refining our sound, making a local name for ourselves, and playing respected venues in the City. I consider this six months the “Golden Age” of Sweep the Leg Johnny. In fairness, I’m sure those members that outlasted me would disagree, and cite their later-released albums as their defining works. But during this period, the band maintained a strong nexus to the South Bend music scene, for we still had many friends at Notre Dame. Although Sweep eventually “outgrew” its South Bend roots, signed with a couple of record labels, and became known as a “Chicago” band, most of the songs on this demo tape were written during our time in South Bend. This is probably the last recorded Sweep work that could claim roots from the South Bend indie rock scene.

Track 1: “Yes, Belmondo, Yes” is a song chronicling Steve’s fandom of Jean Paul Belmondo, a 1960’s French actor and cult icon. This demo starts with Steve’s signature staccato saxophone, followed by the rest of the band mimicking his rhythm. The song continues through a series of rhythmic instrumentation, pauses, starts, stops, and eventually settles into a blues-based groove for the main verses and choruses. Overall, this song is a good representation of the signature Sweep “sound” of this period. Lots of time signature and rhythmic variations mixed with some grooving melody and up and down dynamics.

Track 2: “Abstractions” lulls the listener into a relaxed state before shocking the system with a few bars of distortion. Dynamic variations repeat themselves several times throughout the song before finally settling into a mezzo-forte section that takes us through the song’s end. I always liked the quiet parts where all the instruments are muted except for the percussion. We attempted to simulate the ticking of a clock, and I always thought this made for a terrific ambiance to draw a listener into the song.

Track 3: “Twenty Four”. During the mixing of this song, we were very concerned to get the guitar/bass volume mix just right in the main parts of the song. Of course, no one bothered to go back and listen to the song’s introduction (minor detail overlooked). Regretfully, the guitar is painfully loud in the first moments of the song; however if you make it past this section you are rewarded with a fine mix throughout the rest of the song! In the open chord section immediately after this introduction, I enjoy the echoing interplay between the guitar and the bass. In the midst of everything else being played, these two instruments repeat a phrase back and forth to each other for a pretty cool effect. Sweep also decided to incorporate a couple of tempo changes, at times doing a smooth but dramatic shift from a vivace to an adagio tempo.

Track 4: [Unknown Title]. A plea to readers of this blog: please help us remember the title to this song. While you’re at it, please help me explain what “Action is louder than the catatonic stare of the prime mover, in my shadow...” means. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around that. Lyrical struggles aside; this song has a noticeably darker, more intense feel than the previous songs. The dynamic shifts again take center stage, but are perhaps the most pronounced in this song. The phrases progress from parts almost inaudible to angry and violent distortion. Sostak belts out primordial screams, his timbre removing any doubt of the song’s ferocity. While playing this song, Jim’s limbs and hair would chaotically flail around, abusing all parts of his drum kit. CD painfully communicates his emotional angst, making his guitar roar like a beast and then wail like its wounded victim. The song “unravels” as much as it “ends”... with Chris’ guitar defiantly staggering around the last few measures, unconstrained by any time signature, until nothing is left.

Track 5: “Teach”, as noted earlier, is a song that was previously recorded on Circles All Around. This version breathed some new life into the song with improved equipment, production, and intensity. Although I like both versions of this song, I think the one on this demo tape more closely represents what Sweep sounded like back in the Notre Dame years. This song brings forth a sense of resolution, and appropriately closes this album.

All things considered, I am very fond of the five songs from this demo tape. It’s a shame this was never released as an “official” album, but just a demo. These were the last tracks I personally recorded with Sweep the Leg Johnny, and I will always take away great memories of writing, practicing, and performing these songs with the band. I hope you enjoy these songs also.



As a bonus to those patient enough to make it all the way though my creative (and verbose) musings, I present to you two Sweep the Leg Johnny “oldies”—out of the vault for you listening pleasure. I don’t think the band has played these songs live since 1995 or ‘96.

Track 6: The first of these gems is actually a holdover from Victoria’s Real Secret titled, “First Steps.” This song is proof that it is, in fact, possible to put way too much reverb on a saxophone within a punk-ska song. It’s a straight forward power-pop-punk song that was always fun as hell to play, and never failed to whip the crowds into a fervent mosh pit. For the fun factor alone, this song was one of my favorites. I’m not sure we ever played it live in Chicago, as our style rather quickly diverged from this genre. This was unfortunate, because this song was very accessible to a first time audience, and always had an extremely positive response.

Track 7: The second song, “Disquiet,” was off the Notre Dame campus compilation, sfumato. This was recorded at Miami Street Studios in South Bend, and contains the typical “compressed” production that we got used to from this studio. Not that it was a bad studio—quite the contrary, John turned out some tremendous professional quality work. I believe, however, he lacked experience with the indie-punk, garage band sound (distortion good, compression bad). It is a fairly straightforward song with the exception of some varied time signatures. It packs in lots of distortion and feedback, in an otherwise pretty “smooth” or “relaxing” song (well... as relaxing as Sweep got). I think the slow cadence of the lyrics really contributed to this feel. As the band wrote newer material, this song soon fell out of our standard rotation. I’m not sure it was really that incongruous to our new material; perhaps it was more a case that this song just ceased to excite us after a while. In any event, it’s a fun listen for those that remember our live shows at Notre Dame... I hope you recognize it.

--Wil Freve

listen/download:

Sweep The Leg Johnny - Circles All Around

Initial disclaimer: Sweep The Leg Johnny (“Sweep”) originated in the early 1990’s on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Following graduation, the band moved to Chicago, continued playing for several years, and recorded a handful of albums on both Divot and Southern records. While in Chicago, the band underwent several lineup changes. Given the purpose of this blog, this discussion of Sweep will focus only on the band as they existed while in South Bend. If you are looking for additional discussion of the band’s lineups that included Matt Alicea, John Brady, Mitch Chaney, or any of their label-produced albums, you will not find that here.

No history of Sweep would be complete without first acknowledging the band Victoria's Real Secret. When a shake-up struck VRS’ lineup, and new drummer James Bukow (aka “the battery”) joined the band, Sweep was born. Steve Sostak (vocals, sax); Chris Daly (guitar, vocals); Ryan Hallford (guitar, vocals); and Wil Freve (bass) rounded out Sweep’s founding lineup. These five played together for a short period before creative differences (ever-present since VRS days) finally took a toll, and Ryan left the band. Sweep stuck together as a foursome, completing our sophomore year at Notre Dame playing some new material, coupled with some re-worked remnants from VRS.

At the beginning of our junior year at Notre Dame (1993) we started fresh, scrapped the old VRS material and began an intense and refreshing phase of writing new material. During this period, there was a marked difference and cohesion in our musical focus with Sweep. This time around, we seemed much more pointed in the same direction than we did with VRS. Perhaps we had “grown together” in our musical interests a little more...or perhaps (with Ryan’s absence) the creative duo of Steve and CD subtly took the opportunity to exert more control over the musical direction of the band. In the end, the combination of these factors and our collective experience during the VRS days laid the foundation for Sweep’s music.

The band’s evolution continued at a fast pace throughout our time at Notre Dame and beyond, never becoming asymptotic. Steve began incorporating punctuated saxophone as a unique textural element for our music. CD shined as the band’s sole guitarist, stretching his playing ability and style, as well as readily accepted the role of main creative director. Jim brought a new level of precision and sophistication to the rhythm section, and I simply did my best to keep up with the others’ musical growth.

Our music gracefully surrendered our youthful, starry-eyed attitude, and adopted a cynical, angst-filled vibe. It grew noticeably “darker”, abandoning the sometimes poppy power chords for dissonant, accidental-laden rifts. Despite these changes, the concepts of “unpredictability” and “intensity” survived the transformation from VRS to Sweep, and they remained central to our musical vision. However, with a more unified musical direction, the incorporation of these concepts became more subtle. Instead of experimenting with “intra-album” dynamic shifts (whole songs being loud or quiet), we began incorporating polarizing, “intra-song” dynamic variations. The constant battle between pianissimo and fortissimo within our songs became a calling card of Sweep. The overall native tempo of our songs slowed, as we realized that intensity could be born of other factors besides raw speed. Individually, we became more self-confident, and lost the need to “show off” by forcing complex, self-indulgent rifts into our music. We began viewing songs in their entirety, and contemplating the emotional response a listener would have. Simply stated, we became more musically mature, and this evolution was reflected in our music.

Sweep finished out its time at Notre Dame feverishly writing, evolving, and playing as many shows as we could. Our repertoire seemed to stay a constant size, as new material replaced older, dated works in our rotations. Following school, we collectively decided to move to Chicago, and the four of us (plus Ali) rented a house together in Wicker Park (aka “The Estate”). During our first year here, the combination of living together and working together in the same house again took its toll, eventually leading to the rhythm section calling it quits. Steve and CD remained, replaced Jim and me, and kept playing as Sweep the Leg Johnny. For several years after, the band continued its darkened and tension-filled evolution, underwent more lineup changes, and carved out a unique and lasting place in the college indie-rock scene. They garnered a strong Chicago fan base, and surprisingly drew fans on an international level, touring as far away as Tokyo, Japan, before finally disbanding in 2002. Before achieving such notoriety, however, Sweep the Leg Johnny managed to record a variety of material from their early years in “The Bend.”


Circles All Around was the first step in Sweep’s musical evolution, becoming the earliest “official” recording we made as a band. The tape was made at Studio X in Chicago and is the result of a whirlwind day in the studio. All songs were recorded and mixed in one day (not surprising, considering our college budgets). One of the musical objectives we had during this album was to de-emphasize the vocals in our songs; we wanted the vocals in our music to have equal weight with all of the other instruments, not supersede them. In addition, Steve began incorporating his saxophone playing into the mix in a very non-traditional way. The saxophone was typically not intended to be another “melodic” or “vocal” element... instead it was intended to be a rhythmic, textural addition. At the time Circles was recorded, I think Steve was still finding the balance of how best to incorporate the sax into the music. Its inclusion seems sometimes forced, and the focus on this instrument eventually lessened.

Track 1: An instrumental, “The Rolling O”, kicks off this recording. One of our friends at Notre Dame (we’ll refer to him as “Mikey”... ”B.D.”... ”Brrrummmm-Skiiii!”) owned a powder blue cargo minivan, which was surmised to contain a mattress in the back section. This vehicle therefore earned the nicknamed “The Rolling Orgasm”--hence the origin of this song’s title. The song is a straight forward composition, incorporating several different parts in a traditional song structure. The guitar varies from clean power chords to heavily distorted and bent notes. The dynamics of the song shift subtly at time, and at others slap you in the face with a wall of cymbals and Marshall generated distortion. The tension seems to build throughout the song, eventually being released in a final, chaotic series of random chords and cymbal crashes. There’s a brief moment of calm resolution before the second song on the album picks up.

Track 2: “Sunday” introduces the first lyrics of the album. The song begins with a syncopated drum rhythm that is soon joined by a bouncy low-high bass line. CD’s guitar plays around for a few moments before kicking into full-throttle, crunchy chords for several measures. These chords are then muffled to allow Steve’s vocals some space. Following the verses, the bass, sax, and some swanky guitar form a quiet, subdued section before the cymbals and distortion crash back in. This pattern is repeated a few times in the song until the ultimate conclusion of the song. The vocals of this song are noticeably lower in volume than they were on Pasta (VRS). Additionally, Steve’s vocal technique had improved significantly since that album, and this song afforded him an opportunity to sing in a more natural range.

Track 3: The final track on this album, “Teach”, was one of the first songs written by the band following Ryan’s departure, and it had a surprisingly long lifespan. This was one of the only songs written during our junior year that we played through our senior year and beyond. In fact, this is the only Sweep song that was recorded more than once (on this album, and again on a 1995 demo). Although this song followed the familiar quiet-loud, quiet-loud pattern found on Circles All Around, it was generally packaged in a more traditional “emo” structure. Musically, the song flows fairly well and was always well received by audiences. Lyrically, the message of this song always resonated strongly with me (and other members of the band)... a plea for patience, teaching, and sharing over selfishness and competition. I think the combination of the song’s mainstream feel and classic message kept it as a fan favorite for a long time.

Sweep is now defunct, and the five original members are scattered across North America. Steve Sostak is located southernmost, living with his wife in Peru. I believe they are both English teachers. Chris Daly stayed in Chicago, and is now married, with child, and continues to pursue other musical interests (see: Haymarket Riot) while working as a paramedic. Ryan Hallford spent many years in Scottsdale, AZ, where he also married and had two children, but he has since returned to his home state of Texas. Ry-Guy is an established alternative-medicine practitioner that serves the Dallas community. James P. Bukow moved back to his Boston roots, and is also married with three children. Jimmy-Jam is an electrical engineer that designs things that keep us safe at night. I have stayed in Chicago-land, and have transitioned to suburbia with my wonderful wife and daughter. I’m a recovering civil engineer, working for a national developer in primarily west coast markets. Questions or comments? I may be contacted at wil.freve@comcast.net.

--Wil Freve

listen/download: