BASIC: Chris Forsyth, Douglas McCombs, Mikel Patrick Avery

BASIC do not buy that old canard that guitar-driven rock ’n’ roll is dead; they just believe that too many points of possibility have gone unexplored, forsaken in the stupid pursuit of the next Led Zeppelin or AC/DC. The project first took shape as a pandemic-era lark, when veteran Philadelphia ringers Chris Forsyth and Nick Millevoi gathered to riff on ideas they adored but felt had been ignored as the guitar gods of the ’70s worked their way into New Wave in the ’80s. Their template was Basic, by Robert Quine (Richard Hell and John Zorn guitarist) and Fred Maher (Massacre drummer). With an Alesis drum machine, they spiraled into two-guitar oblivion, evoking Ash Ra Tempel, Television, and even a little Genesis along the way. Drummer Mikel Patrick Avery came along in time to add ballast and tension to BASIC’s exhilarating 2024 debut, This Is BASIC, a record that emphatically reminded anyone within earshot that guitar-driven rock ’n’ roll still had lots of room to roam.

Memberships sometimes shift in rock bands, of course, and BASIC proved no different. On a 2025 EP, Dream City, BASIC debuted as a new trio, with Brokeback mastermind and Tortoise member Douglas McCombs stepping into the mix. There is a lighter and looser touch to BASIC now, as though McCombs prompted Forsyth and Avery to spiral a little higher into the atmosphere with their guitar and drums as he propped the exit open with his bass. The beautiful “Changes, Changing” suggests a cross of Afrobeat and Texas boogie, making it clear once again how much space BASIC has to explore.