The Sueves

Chicago’s The Sueves is one of the latest crop of garage rock bands wreaking havoc in the city’s underground music community. The group, which formed as a trio in 2011 before expanding into a four-piece, borrowed its name from an ancient Germanic tribe that might be a footnote in world history except, as drummer Andy Martin points out, “The Sueves were the first people to paint cave pictures of ladies private parts.” “There is definitely something about being in a rock ‘n’ roll band that is a little similar to being in a tribe,” adds vocalist/guitarist Joe Schorgl. “I found the word in a book on Irish history, and it was briefly mentioned that they never made a big impact. We don’t really know what we’re doing so I thought it was funny.”

While many have suggested the Sueves change its name to something a little more catchy and the unfamiliarity of the word has resulted in some entertaining mispronunciations (“A lot of times people call us The Suaves, but we’re not really suave at all,” says Martin), it fits with the band member’s sense of humor, camaraderie, and anything-goes mentality. These things also show in Sueves’ offshoot Joe & Otis, a two-piece art-punk project based around a comic Shorgl wrote about a ghost who wears pants and band’s fixation on the number 280. ”Rather than go full circle, 360 degrees, we only go 280 degrees. There’s no need to make it all the way, as long as there is 280,” says Shorgl. Last summer, The Sueves self-released Town Zone, an album of skronky, lo-fi dance rock, ‘60s-influenced garage riffs, and a healthy dose of Midwestern punk.