The Heavy Bombers

The seeds for what would become The Heavy Bombers were planted in that seediest of Chicago punk venues, the Mutiny, where guitarist Drew Richardson’s The Dirty Howlers and drummer Jeff Green’s The F#ckaround Kids would often share the beer- and Long Island Iced Tea-soaked stage. A whiskey-mellowed Jeff confided that he dug Drew’s screaming, and the Bombers were born. Upon the demise of the Dirty Howlers Drew and Jeff spent several long months attempting to complement the already-deafening cacophony with another musician or two, going through a handful with little luck. What the band required, Drew and Jeff had decided, was definitely a bass — but not just somebody to ‘hold down the low end.’ Drew already had no problem establishing a solid rhythm with his overdriven guitar, and Jeff created more than enough oomph for three bands. The Heavy Bombers demanded a bass that would function almost like a second guitar: someone busy enough to complement guitar lines and vocal melodies, but also willing to dirty up his tone with an array of effects pedals. In early 2009 bassist Brent Mix, fresh off recording a prog-rock record with Voice box, was looking for something a bit more raw, rude, and … well, just raw and rude. Upon their first rehearsal as a trio Drew, Jeff, and Brent knew that the combination was going to produce a new kind of garage-fuzz nastiness, and the lineup was solidified.

The Heavy Bombers found their sound rehearsing over a second-rate Cubs bar too far north of Wrigley to support anything but locals who had outlasted Mayor Daley’s scrub-down of Lakeview. It became apparent very quickly that this garage band was going to be anything but yet another purveyor of tired suburban white-boy blues (although it was equally apparent that they were all pretty white). Drew could bang out the 1-4-5 12-bar raunch with the best of them, but infused that sound with technical abandon (not to say the abandonment of technique) and a never-ending search for the perfect overdrive pedal. Jeff, meanwhile, brings a pummeling fluency in the fine art of metal and hard-rock drumming (complete with double kick bass drum!), pushing Drew’s songs of love lost and money stolen to blistering extremes of tempo and volume. Finally, Brent finds a niche within the maelstrom with his experiments in noise, fuzz, and wah-wah, not to mention his extensive scholarship in free jazz and improvisation.

Assembling a setlist comprised of Drew’s ragers and Brent’s bizarre post-ragtime jams (in addition to a few covers, including a suite of “Good Golly Miss Molly” and “Molly’s Lips”), The Heavy Bombers debuted at the Mutiny on July 3rd 2009, the a-chronological date of Chicago’s celebration of American independence. And independence was declared, as the band left the audience bloody and in need of literal stitches. Subsequent gigs at Quenchers, Martyrs, and the Bottom Lounge have proven equally successful (if perhaps less painful), and have found the Bombers developing twisted collegiality with Chicago post-punks Nonagon and filthy glam-rockers I Love Rich, among others. The Heavy Bombers celebrated the end of the year by laying down tracks for their self-titled album with Dave Whitcomb at Stray Dog Recording Company in Chicago’s Humboldt Park. The album is now available, and the Heavy Bombers are playing shows inside and outside of Chicago’s punk-styes, outhouses, and fine-dining institutions.