Black Friars Social Club & RazorHouse: show in Chicago @ Lizards Liquid Lounge

Folk rockers Black Friars Social Club and alternative blues band RazorHouse will be performing at Lizards Liquid Lounge on July 17th. It will be a busy night for Mark Panick, who is the singer and guitarist for both ensembles.

HCTF premiere - Black Friars Social Club: "Perdition's Hill" video

John Airo has created an animated video for Perdition's Hill, the latest single by Black Friars Social Club, a music project based in Chicago founded by singer and songwriter Mark Panick. His style fits the theme of the gothic folk song like a glove. Thinking about the possibilty of an afterlife has been inspriration for artists of all disciplines: "It is a prime example of old school storytelling - an old soul is punished to walk the hill for all eternity, but it could have been worse. Unlike what happened to Sisyphus, there is no boulder involved. The track moves slowly, as if to channel the tiredness of the unnamed protagonist. Honorable mention for Max Crawford, whose playing of both the Flugelhorn and a muted coronet gives the track an extra, somewhat comforting layer".

Perdition's Hill is released via Underwear Factory Toy Records. Buy it from their website.

» The Black Friars Social Club on Facebook

HCTF review of Perdition's Hill.

Black Friars Social Club: Perdition's Hill

Black Friars Social Club, a music project based in Chicago founded by singer and songwriter Mark Panick, explore gothic folk on their new single Perdition's Hill. It is a prime example of old school storytelling - an old soul is punished to walk the hill for all eternity, but it could have been worse. Unlike what happened to Sisyphus, there is no boulder involved. The track moves slowly, as if to channel the tiredness of the unnamed protagonist. Honorable mention for Max Crawford, whose playing of both the Flugelhorn and a muted coronet gives the track an extra, somewhat comforting layer.

HCTF premiere - Black Friars Social Club: Ballad of a Jr Hitman (lyric version)

Black Friars Social Club is a project based in Chicago founded by singer and songwriter Mark Panick. The members share a love for folk music. Their first single, Ballad of a Jr Hitman, is a tribute to Panick's brother, who was part of kids gang in the Windy City: “When Jay was in 6th grade he had this kid gang, they called themselves The Jr Hitmen and they had it printed on the back of their Members Only jackets. We never let him live that shit down. Jay understood the southside Chicago habit of derision as an expression of love”.

The sad and beautiful melody gets stuck in your head instantly, as if the vibe of the Irish pub where the band founded, wanted to be preserved the music. The bar was owned by a fireman and it burned down... The animated video was put together by visual artist Blair Gauntt and filmmaker David Anderson.