The Para-medics was a math rock band from
Chicago, formed some time in . Originally releasing music independently, they
were one of the first signees of Swerp Records in
, a label specialising in the music of the
south suburbs of Chicago. The
Para-medics dissolved some time around when Swerp dissolved in (see Fecking Bahamas’s retrospective on the
label; archived). With the band’s dissolution, drummer Nnamdi Ogbonnaya would go on to be the drummer for, and later bass guitarist Steve
Marek would go on to be a bass guitarist for, current
Chicagomath rock/jazz fusion outfit
Monobody. Guitarist
Dylan Piskula went on to join
Chicagonoise rock/sludge metal outfit
Den as a bass guitarist, later guitarist Matthew Frank plays as part of
Chicagomidwest emo outfit Lifted Bells, and
earlier bass guitarist Brian Baliga has done solo work
under the name Luscious Duncan.
The music of The Para-medics takes after the music of their
Chicago (or perhaps, “lava
land”) forebears piglet; perhaps because the music is (very
nearly) entirely instrumental, some sources label The Para-medics as
“progressive rock” or similar, but The
Para-medics are thoroughly math rock. Like the music of
piglet, that of The Para-medics places equal emphasis on all
three components of its standard rock instrumentation
(although they would later be a four-piece, including additional guitarist Matthew Frank): drumkit, guitar, and bass guitar. They feature many of
the mainstays of the math rock genre, including complex
song structures, agile (and often
tapped) bass guitar
and guitar riffing, and oddball rhythms. Their music is also
highly dynamic, alternating between busy mid-tempo sections, sparse and quiet
sections, aggressive hardcore punk riffing, and even partly
improvised “freakout” sections. Unfortunately, their music suffers
just a bit from the poor production; however, check out “Patsy Cline Gun
Squid” and later releases for some production that is improved over
“Switch It On Em!!!”.
notes on the distributions
The information on the first two releases (“The Para-medics” and
“Switch It On Em!!!”) is scarce and dubious. “Burkina Faso
(We Can Dance)” showed up at some point on their bandcamp
page, and the release date there is also used here.
However, the other two tracks only seem to appear on their MySpace
page (archived). Also, the cover art used here
for “Switch It On Em!!!” appears to have been used for “The
Para-medics” (listed as “The Para-medics EP” on their
bandcamp). Most sources list the release date of “Switch It On
Em!!!” as (as it was listed
on their bandcamp), but the band apparently had only formed by — this date is presumably a
joke.
MusicBrainz lists the release date as , which makes more sense, and also agrees with their
MySpace page, so that is the date used here.
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![cover art for “[V/A] This One's Eight”](this-one-s-eight.jpg)