The best song this week is "Depailure" by Electric Hawk

I saw Electric Hawk open for Del Rey at the Empty Bottle last year. It was a "free with RSVP" show, so attendance was a no-brainer. Opening was Wizard Rifle, from Portland, who were so good I bought a CD and t-shirt. Two-man madness with a tendency towards sprawling epics with nods to Lightning Bolt and general punishment.

Electric Hawk, a three piece instrumental metal band from Chicago took the stage next. I wasn't expecting much, and all I got was one of the best sets I'd see all year. A band whose gear is perfectly matched to their sound, whose drummer hits with insane intensity and precision, and whose riffs burrow into the gut but shift and slide enough to keep the brainwaves melting. I was floored, the kind of floored where I drunk-texted friends and posted on Facebook as soon as I got home that night -- and actually felt good about the drunk posting the next morning.

That night I took home a three-song EP they were giving away on burned CDs, and it lived up to the show, which had me excited for a full-length...which I picked up this past week. It's a fantastic listen, front-to-back, and they have solidified their standing as one of my favorite Chicago bands. The best song for this, the inaugural week of this website, is in the middle of the record, it's called "Depailure," and there is a great video of them performing it here.

Catch them at The Empty Bottle with The Life & Times and Sweet Cobra on 2/24.