Doors: 8PM / Show: 9PM / 21+ Friction can be unwanted – the unintended clash of things not built to interact. It can also provide the grip necessary for energy and movement. Friction can abrade, but it can also propel. For Chicago quartet National Photo Committee, friction serves as both an irritant and a power source. First, there’s the frayed-denim baritone of singer/guitarist Maxwell Bottner, which resembles the wry drawl of David Berman channeled through the froggy gusto of Calvin Johnson. It’s not always a smooth process, that channeling. Collisions occur; bumps are hit; sparks fly. But the resulting dissonance carries a strange frisson, if you’ll pardon the French. Bottner’s dog-eared yet nimble vocals exude a longing that’s simultaneously innocent and jaded, ironic and earnest. Is he trying to fool us, or himself? Maybe he’s just delivering the kind of wisdom that you can’t reduce to a lesson -- or offering up some foolishness we can learn from. Rollicking ballad “The Bishop,” for instance, begins with a mystifying parable about a man turning into cheese (I think) and goes on to include cocky declarations like “Love’s a sexy puzzle,” and “I’m the devil’s best masseuse, and that’s a fact.” Bottner sings it all with fuck-it-bucket conviction but leaves a sneaking suspicion that he’s not entirely on the level. And then there’s the music. Check out “If I Wait,” a springy number that bounces along like vintage Halo Benders but harbors something murkier beneath the pep. Henry Moskal’s sprightly pedal steel guitar and Will Carr’s bobbing bass say one thing, while the jittery drums and barbed riffs suggest something totally different. Bottner’s voice splits the difference, somehow sounding both worn out and fired up, which suits his lyrics about the pleasures and perils of procrastination. “Adelaide,” meanwhile, is a chugging shit-kicker that features a howling sax outro and a honky-tonk breakdown. The rootsy “It’s Hard” packs a couple rave-ups into its doleful blue-collar lament (and finds room for a couple dick jokes). “Gizzard,” at more than 11 minutes long, evokes Neil and the Horse at their gnarly, slow-burning best, a marvel of eroded boogie and corrosive yearning. As for biographical information, Bottner, already active in a host of bands hardcore and otherwise, began National Photo Committee in 2019 at the ripe age of 20, with most of the current personnel. (Jason Shapiro, who started on bass and guitar but moved to drums, has left and returned to the band a few times; he’s on about half this album and as of this writing is a member of the group). Bassist Carr played guitar at one point. COVID forced Bottner to make an EP, Songs About Sticks and Rocks (2021), pretty much on his own. Since then, NPC has picked up pedal-steel guitarist Moskal and expanded its sound, going from rickety, pastoral indie rock to sprawling and unpredictable rickety, pastoral indie rock that flirts with country but doesn’t take it home. National Photo Committee is a Chicago band that sounds like they grew up in Virginia and got kicked out of college in Olympia. They have an unruly streak that suggests a strong DIY ethos and a ramshackle approach that doesn’t quite camouflage their ambition. They’ve got rough edges and bent corners. Their songs scrape against each other, with attendant jolts that sometimes force changes of direction. Friction may knock National Photo Committee around, but it doesn’t slow them down or stop them from getting where they need to go. - Reed Jackson