Warm Ones

Warm Ones and their debut LP Sprezzatura cover a range of rock styles, but for the most part focus on slightly gritty, Chicago-style power pop. What really sets Warm Ones apart on their debut is the quality of the songwriting. This stuff is hook-heaven. They sound great when they rock ("Bacteriostatic") and their poppier tunes ("Love for a Week," "Small Spies," "Quiet Epilogue") are as addictive as they come. - Windy City Rock

For anybody who can’t stand listening to what seems like the same song over and over, Warm Ones’ Sprezzatura is probably your album. Each successive track varies from the one that came before it: “Bacteriostatic” absolutely melts your face off, “Quiet Epilogue” is about what it sounds like, “Small Spies” is a lovely duet featuring The 1900s’ Jeanine O’Toole, and so on. It’s an eclectic bag of tunes that, for commonality’s sake, at least share brief runtimes. It’s amazing that tracks like “Bacteriostatic” and “Hot Flash” are included on the same album, and yet it works. - Chicago Tunes

Bands that perform live as well as Warm Ones did Thursday night at Beat Kitchen is the reason I work on a blog like Chicago Tunes. Their gig that evening in front of a sizable crowd went beyond what I expected from the four piece.

I enjoyed their album well enough — hell, it’ll probably have good play on my best-of post I intend to upload by the end of the year — yet I didn’t have much to work off of in regards to live performance. Chicago Tunes’ Josh Terzino, of course, said in his review he was “pleasantly surprised” by Warm Ones when he went to see them in August. Other than that — and some video — I all but had to use my imagination in deciding what songs like “Quiet Epilogue” and “Business Relations” would sound like off album.

If I had any preconceived ideas of what I was in for, they were, in a word, off. Warm Ones does any number of things that gives them a leg up on the Chicago music scene. Among them:

* Their tunes — something Josh alluded to as well — are, for the most part, brief. Warm Ones dig into the meat of each song quick and do what every great rock band does: They rock. I mean really, have you heard “Bacteriostatic“?
* Tony Sackett (vocals/guitar) is a personality. He’s a frontman’s frontman. His skills, energy, between song banter — all exceptional. I had a hard time averting my eyes from Tony because, like Elsinore‘s Ryan Groff, Tony commands the stage.

I’m gonna begin things with “Get Shit Set” because that tune live was, oh I don’t know, transcendent. Like on Sprezzatura, it followed “Ulysees” without break. Guitars and drums flooded an otherwise emptied sound space, increasing in intensity until breaking finally into a deluge of noise. The buildup from zero to fracas seemed to go on way longer than it did on record. Well, it worked brilliantly. The song was easily an evening highlight.

Minutes into “Get Shit Set,” the thought crossed my mind to capture the experience on video for you fine folk. Then I smartened up, said “Ef that… I’m gonna enjoy this!” and did just that. If anything, it gives you reason to see Warm Ones for yourself.

Next to “Get Shit Set,” I enjoyed Warm Ones’ version of “I Don’t Know Where I Was Going With This” — one of the many goodies off of Canasta‘s The Fakeout, the Tease and the Breather. Funnily enough, it wasn’t written by the men and women of Canasta, but rather Warm Ones’ Tony. This was all explained to me minutes before Warm Ones took the stage by Canasta’s Matt Priest. Then halfway through Warm Ones’ set — wham! — Warm Ones dedicates a song to Canasta, and it so happens to be “I Don’t Know Where I Was Going With This.” (Which, by the way, Warm Ones dubs “I Don’t Know Where This Is Going.”)

The difference between the two versions is extraordinary. Warm Ones’ take moves along at a brisk pace — two and a half minutes compared to four and a half minutes — and switches from verse to chorus to verse again with little room in between. A video — albeit incomplete — is embedded below.

Anyway, make room in your schedules for Warm Ones, yeah? - Chicago Tunes

Sometimes the best records are the ones that take you by complete surprise. When I first listened to Sprezzatura, the debut LP from Chicago indie rock quartet Warm Ones, I was caught off guard by the consistently high quality and infectiousness of its 14 songs, which offer up a mix of glorious power pop and scruffy garage rock. I've been hooked on it ever since. The record's title means "studied carelessness," a perfect fit considering its focus on both sharp, concise songwriting and loose, natural execution. From the screamy abandon of "Bacteriostatic" to the new wave urgency of "Quiet Epilogue" to the brief, Big Star-esque "Ulysses," this is fantastic stuff that begs for repeated listens.

Mark your calendar for Thursday, October 28, when the band will play their next show at Beat Kitchen. In the meantime, read on to find out what front-man Tony Sackett had to say when I recently asked him some questions about Sprezzatura, Warm Ones' background, future plans and astronaut ice cream.


WCR: First off, give us some background on Warm Ones. How and when did the band start and how has it evolved to what it is today?

TS: In 2003 I was playing bass in The Saps with drummer Brett Whitacre. Brett had heard and liked some home-recorded stuff I had done and agreed to play drums for six news songs of mine. I asked Devon Bryant, whom I knew from recording The Saps, to engineer the sessions with Brett and that formed the nucleus of what became the band. It remained a nameless recording project for a while because all of us were busy in other bands (Devon was playing bass with Scotland Yard Gospel Choir). Eventually we were offered a spot on a bill and Devon became the bass player so we could perform live as a trio. We did a few shows like that, met Brandon Durham after he did sound for us at the Beat Kitchen and he soon joined the band on guitar. After Brett and Brandon left Chicago to tour with different bands, I resolved to finish the record and left The Saps so I could focus on making the Warm Ones a living, breathing band. Jon Adler joined on drums and Jim Tuerk (who was playing in Brighton, MA with Devon) jumped in on guitar. That group finished the record. Shortly after we finished it, Devon left Chicago for St. Paul, MN and Mike Metz filled in on bass. Jim recently left the band so Mike Wzsolek is our current guitar player. That is where we stand today.

Your recently released album, Sprezzatura, has gotten some great reviews, and it's definitely been one of my personal most-played records these days. Tell us about the recording process. Where was it done, and did you guys go in with set ideas of what type of vibe you wanted it to have?

The recording process was spread out over several years. Of the original six songs I started with Devon and Brett, only "Bacteriostatic" exists. We mixed that song first for a compilation CD of local music, then a couple months later a friend mistakenly deleted all of the song files and we had to start over. The rest of the record is made up of three or four principle recording sessions. For these sessions we recorded everything live, but really were most concerned that we came away with drum takes we could build on. We did two or three weekends like that at Clava/Four Deuces Studio and one weekend in Brett and Devon’s Logan Square apartment with the drums set up in the kitchen. From those sessions we came away with drums and bass and a few guitars here and there. Devon and I felt confident we could get good vocal and guitar sounds with the gear we had, so we ended up tracking the rest in several different apartments and practice spaces around town. We would track drums for five songs in the studio, take those home and fill out the arrangements, then go do drums for five more songs, and so on. When we had everything tracked and working mixes of the songs, we went back into Clava for a couple of weekends to do the final mixes.

We definitely had set ideas about the vibe or arrangement of each song going in, but we approached it on a song to song basis. Really, the only overarching theme throughout the process was to keep it simple and playful. I had just come out of my post-Jeff Buckley 6-minute ballad phase and just wanted to write short pop songs that were dumb and fun.

The material on Sprezzatura is pretty eclectic, ranging from aggressive, noisy stuff like “Bacteriostatic” to catchy power pop like “Love for a Week.” Was it important for Warm Ones to have an eclectic sound or did it just develop that way?

It just developed that way. Whenever we talked about these songs with each other, they were just “pop songs,” so I guess we all have a very broad idea of what that is. I also think the piece-meal way we recorded the album influenced us to consider the songs more individually and not as a whole.

It was cool to hear Jeanine O'Toole from another excellent Chicago band, The 1900s, do guest vocals on “Small Spies.” How did that come about?

Devon met The 1900s while he was playing with Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. Later he ended up filling in for their bassist for a couple of shows and I think that was when he asked Jeanine if she would sing on the record. We sent her the song and a couple weeks later she came into the studio and nailed it in a couple of takes.

What are some bands that you would say have had the biggest influence on the Warm Ones sound?

The Flaming Lips, Guided by Voices, The Kinks, My Bloody Valentine, Big Star – those are some bands off the top of my head that I can relate specifically to things we like and have tried to emulate. There are a lot. Motown singles also had a lot of influence on the attitude of the band early on. When your goal is to make concise and energetic pop songs, that’s a good place to start.

What has been the most memorable of the band's gigs to date and why?

This summer we played the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival. We thought the stage was going to be somewhere near the general area of the festival, but were mistaken. Instead we played a stage set up in a right turn lane at the intersection of Kimball, Diversey and Milwaukee right in front of Cut Rate Liquors. The result was a crowd that was a surreal mix of our families, some friends and drunk, sun-burnt vagabonds. To look out and see my dad tapping his foot next to some incoherent shirtless dude doing a psychotic rain dance…that’s just rock 'n’ roll.

I read on your website that you were offering Warm Ones astronaut ice cream for sale at your recent shows, and just wanted to comment on how awesome that is. How'd it go over?

It went over well. We were giving it away at our CD release party and it seemed like some people had the same nostalgic response to it that I do. As a kid I thought it was among the most amazing substances on earth.

What's next? Any more recording or shows lined up?

We have a few new songs almost completely tracked and plan to go back into the studio to record five more in a couple of months. We just played the Empty Bottle and hope to get back to The Hideout this Fall (editor's note: since Tony responded to this question, the band have scheduled a show for October 28 at Beat Kitchen). For now we want to stay active locally and build on what we’ve done so far to promote the record. - Windy City Rock

Warm Ones took to the stage next, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I purposely avoided listening to their music so I could go in fresh and not have any expectations. The most I did was read Eric’s review of their album and I took a look at their bio from their website, which I found to be hilarious. So I knew it would be a fun time, but I was extremely happy to hear that the music matched up with their personality.

Their songs come at you in short bursts, rarely more than just over three minutes. This causes two theories to cross into my mind:

1. Warm Ones are so meticulous in the crafting of their songs that they’ve edited out any filler and just kept the meat of the songs, so that every second could be considered a “best part.”
2. The less is more theory again, only this time it means that if a song is only two and a half minutes and it stinks, the audience will already be grooving to the next song before they realize it.

For my money, I’m betting on the first theory. The songs are short, but they aren’t light on subject or sound.

Most notably the guitar work of the newest member of the band, Mike Wszolek. His performance reminded me not just a little bit of David Gilmour‘s work on some of Pink Floyd’s better albums. He showed a kind of restraint that a lot of axe-men have a hard time with.

A lot of the time a guitar player can get wrapped up in their own sound and turn into Marty McFly at the end of Back To The Future. This can be fun if the music calls for it, but most often it is obnoxious and ridiculous and completely turns an audience off.

Wzolek keeps it all in check, though, and provides a nice amount of depth to the sound of the band — complimented by the bass of Mike Metz and drumming of Jon Adler. These two do a nice job of keeping the band in check. Never going over the top, but always staying on time and upbeat.

Lead Singer Tony Sackett has a lot to do with the amount of fun an audience has at a Warm Ones show. He comes off as charming and very humorous — in a very self-deprecating way. He also has a certain quality, necessary to a strong frontman, that demands attention.

I couldn’t necessarily put it into words, but when he’s on stage, you want to watch him. His vocals are good, not great. His work on the guitar is strong, not amazing. But he has that thing… that indescribable thing that makes this band a must-see for people who love the local Chicago scene. - Chicago Tunes

Opening number “Bacteriostatic” leads Sprezzatura with a total bang. It’s a brash and loud three-minute romp that pounds at the ears for its entire running time.

The guitars are super noisy. Tony Sackett yells his vocals. Actually, he screams, too.

And so begins Warm Ones‘ debut album, an ambitious 14-track mix of indie rock and pop that sounds like it’s from a band that’s been around a lot longer than the five years Warm Ones had under its belt before releasing Sprezzatura.

Take “Small Spies,” which features guest vocals by The 1900s‘ Jeanine O’Toole. It’s a lovely him and her tune where Tony and Jeanine trade vocals back and forth — as if we’re eavesdropping on a conversation between Tony, who states something, and Jeanine, who counters.

They play former lovers, or maybe just lovers who are undergoing a battle of trust. And it’s vastly different from the boisterous “Bacteriostatic” that came before it. This one’s easy going and light pop.

Says Tony:

Its disappointing that this thought could occur
you are a dangerous reconnoiter
cuz you find out what I need
what I neeeeeeed
and exploit that information for you own amusement

And Jeanine:

I should investigate immediately
what secrets hide at such proximity
cuz you find out who I know
where I gooooo
It’s your imagination that has brought us to this

I’m amused by Warm Ones’ wide range of styles. “Bacteriostatic” and “Small Spies” are probably the most opposite that you’re gonna get. Then there’s “Get Shit Set,” which begins with a lengthy rock intro before Tony even hits the mic.

And again, he sounds different from the Tony we’ve heard up to that point. He isn’t the screamer or gentle crooner we heard before, but an impassioned soul that all but begs for the person he sings to to take him seriously.

Says Tony:

This is the trick of a life time
This is the one we’ve been waiting for
Don’t miss the trick of a lifetime
(shit’s gonna work out this time)

If you’re familiar with another Chicago band, Johnny Rumble, we recently reviewed in this space, a number of Warm Ones’ songs reminded me of them, too. In Particular, “Hot Flash.” Though the song doesn’t do too much for me lyrically, it has an upbeat-ness about it that would’ve aligned pretty neatly with the track listing on JR.

Give Johnny Rumble’s “Handgun Blues” a try to see what I’m getting at. Both it and “Hot Flash” — which is a bit harder — are backed by harmonized vocals and driven by drum beats.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Sprezzatura is that Warm Ones threw in what I assume are a violin and maybe some synths on “Quiet Epilogue” — the disc’s catchiest tune — and then a violin again on the album’s final number, “Like a Game (Parts 1 & 2).” Orchestral pop is probably my favorite genre at the moment, so Warm Ones’ try at it was certainly welcomed.

- Chicago Tunes

Chicago rockers Warm Ones sound a little hotter than their name on the first track from their latest release, Sprezzatura.

Warm One started out a few years back as a recording project for then-members of The Saps and the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. This lead to the creation of the album Sprezzatura, which was released earlier this year and features contributions from Chicago heavyweights Brighton MA and The 1900s.

While the album is a diverse work featuring bluesy indie-rock takes to straight up pop tunes, our favorite is the buzzsaw attack of the album opener “Bacteriostatic”. Check it out: Warm Ones – “Bacteriostatic”. - Loud Loop Press

This is The Warm Ones and they’ve come to blow your tiny minds. They are catchy, loud and tight in all the best possible ways, not the weird creepy ones. It’s long been whispered around poker tables and suggested between friends standing by the pinball machine but it’s high time we all just clearly state the fact that The Warm Ones write some of the best rock n’ roll songs in all of Chicago. Done and Done. Enjoy. - Small Chicago

Here’s a fun thing about covering Chicago music: One minute a band doesn’t exist to you, the next a press release arrives and you’re marveling at the solid work on that band’s full-length debut. Certainly the confidence of the infectious indie rock on Warm Ones’ “Spezzatura” is a product of the members’ experience; singer-guitarist Tony Sackett is an alum of The Saps, and guitarist Jim Tuerk is also a member of Brighton, MA. The music? Nothing fancy, just a really well-followed path through the indie rock cookbook. A scratchy rock explosion in “Bacteriostatic” mixed with the sweet power pop of “Love For a Week” and “Business Relations.” Add the lovelorn “Quiet Epilogue” and yearning “Wonders of the World” and you’ve got a satisfying debut. Still: The bluesy “Toys” seems out of place, and I’m not a big fan of songs that are less than a minute or two. The 14-track “Spezzatura” has three teases like this. Expand ‘em or drop ‘em! - Metromix Chicago

Warm Ones talk about their long in the making debut, the art of songwriting (especially short songs) and the beauty of pop music

"This disc is definitely in my top ten of the year." - Richard Milne, Local Anesthetic on XRT - XRT Radio