5ive Style

5ive Style are an instrumental Chicago trio whose groovin' guitar and shake-yer-booty bass lines leak windy city soul. Born during a jam session New Year's Eve 1993, 5ive Style's sizzling meltdowns call to mind the forehead sweat of a Meters jam and the sticky-sweet levity of the Willy Wonka soundtrack.

Two of the three members of 5ive Style (whose name is a reference to a Kung Fu technique) are longtime Chicago "scenesters." Bassist LeRoy Bach also plays with Liz Phair, as well as Uptighty, a twelve-piece funk band. Drummer Johnny Machine is a former Poster Child(ren) and moonlights in Tortoise, a bass/drums-oriented instrumental project. Guitar prodigy Billy Dolan is newly relocated from nearby Rockford (you remember Rockford--Cheap Trick, fer chrissakes).

And what do these diligent souls do when they're not playing? "Well, we talk about playing," says Dolan. And they work at Chicago's Idful Studios 'til the wee hours with producer Casey Rice. Their debut album was released on Sub Pop in September '95.

C'mon. Fan the smoky grooves of Five Style, Chicago's answer to "who stole the soul?"

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