"Brent, take me away from this land... this Chicago. Show me the wild plains of Illinois," she said as she wrapped her arms around my waist. I squeezed my thighs around the horse's girth, and he galloped towards the sunset.

"Baby, don't worry. We ride."

"Take me away from the streets with no left turn lights, the Old Style Beer, the sausage, and the math-rock," she whispered in my ear. I pushed the horse hard west. After several hours of darkness we camped along a trickling stream in a cornfield. I gathered berries with a flashlight while she fired up the generator and plugged in the stereo equipment.

"Brent, play some music for me. Play me some rock and roll."

I searched through my saddlebag and came up with the new Sweep the Leg Johnny record. I popped it in. The album began with a slow melody and laboriously slow drum beat. A saxophone exhaled over the top.

"This is pretty," she said.

Then the beat slowly quickened. Like a locomotive getting through its first few chugs before accelerating out of the station. Soon a guttural bassline and jagged guitar dropped into the mix. Chaos ensued. She started to freak out.

"Damn you, Brent! This is so Chicago! This is as Chicago as parallel parking and potholes! I wanted to get away from it all! This reminds me of your Shellac and June of 44."

"Baby, you know I like that stuff. And besides, this is much more controlled and intricate. I find it more interesting."

"It's all stop- start, stop- start."

"Well, yeah, but the way I see it, Sweep the Leg Johnny use space and time as their fifth and sixth members, teasing your expectations and endurance."

"You're pretentious."

"...and besides, it just flat out rocks in parts. Their new bassist brings a much more direct approach. It's aggressive, yet sometimes delicate. In a way, it almost reminds me of some electronic music-- using repetition and building upon melodies and time structures. With five songs clocking in at 41 minutes, it's nowhere near pop. But it has hooks and fist- pumping parts and achingly pretty parts."

"You're hopeless. I like the pop music. I thought you could take me away."

"I'm not saying it's for everybody. It's jazzy and metronomic. It's subtle and over the top. Sweep plays only at the two extremes of quiet and cacophony. It may be pure Chicago indie rock, but it's the best Chicago indie rock. It has all the elements. It's scary, sexy, and challenging."

"Shut up. I just want to eat berries."

-Brent DiCrescenzo