Eighth

If much of the Chicago scene in the ‘90s seemed to be pushing beyond conventional rock boundaries, Eleventh Dream Day, formed by Rick Rizzo and Janet Beveridge Bean in the early ‘80s, kept a torch burning for punk-informed drive and Crazy Horse–ish drift. The band’s aptly titled eighth record was equal parts noisy and jammy (as on the Sonic Youth–like “View From the Rim” or the shimmering drone collage “Motion Sickness”), wiry and anthemic (“Two Smart Cookies,” where Rizzo and Bean share lead vocals), and patient and textural (trudging, enveloping closer “Last Call”). As distinctive as the group’s blend was, moments here, such as “Writes a Letter Home,” bordered on the post-rock stylings that were then taking hold thanks in large part to McCombs’s other band Tortoise, showing that this was a community in constant dialogue.