Woo Park: The Band of Misfits Chicago has Overlooked

Emily Nichols – Vocals
Brian Sanborn – Guitar and Pedals
Christian Zwit – Keys and Synths
Parker Grogan – Bottom
Luke Sangerman – Drums, Cymbals, and Percussion

Woo Park is a 5-person group of weirdos who fit together in the best possible way. Groovy doesn’t even begin to describe their vibe, and the Chicago jazzy influences are so tangible their music feels like it is being wrapped around you and attaching to your pulse. For my older generation readers, this is the music you want to see at a laser light show. For my mature young readers, this is the music you want to accompany you on a magical mushroom journey. This Chicago quintuplet found a means of mixing a multitude of different genres and especially Chicago sound within their music. With Emily Nichols on vocals we are led into a whole new realm of existence with her equally gritty and butter-smooth timbre. Though in most bands that would be the lead-in to the sound, Woo Park adds a whole new twist with each individual instrument playing an equal part in the flow of the song, Each finds their own way to shine through the instrumentation of each song. The only way to describe this band in its entirety is Weird Magic.

This group of artists has very little name recognition throughout Chicago, which I believe to be a huge injustice to their groove. Their psychedelic combination of jazz, soul, R&B, and journey-building musical architecture make their uncanny Chicago origins very obvious and embed them in some of the best Chicago artists that I have heard. They released their one and only album in 2014 called Smokes (favorite song, Tiny Straws). This album is a journey in itself. After listening to it all the way through in order, you see the pathway the artists took because the entire album could easily just be one short opera. The jazzy groove and storytelling behind each lyric highlights the every-changing tempos and beats that are included in each song. No song sticks to one tempo the entire time, which only exaggerates the weird magic that they produce.

One of the reasons I chose to highlight this particular band is to show the gorgeous diversity of the sound of Chicago. The pulse of Chicago music is one of many layers and themes. This band has found a way to incorporate all of them in such a short length of time, and a short and varying length of time. Some songs on their album are 0:43 and some are 8:34. The organic expression of groove that this band has produced is unmatched. They also have some Chicago artists featured on the album including Noname (previously known as Noname Gypsy). The fact that the band has such little content, but still has this arms reach into the Chicago scene says a lot about the character of their music as well as the character of the influence that the Chicago music industry has had on them. Noname has a sound that is very similar to theirs in terms of vocal timbres and intentionality. But, Noname also provides the first taste of rap into their sound, which completes their tapping into every possible Chicago influence they can possibly get their hands on. It shows the true immersion of this band into the music culture that Chicago is, and that they are not to be forgotten.

In 2020 they released two “Rax Trax Session” bops on Spotify. The first, Propeller is a very weird and awesome expression of their development in these absent years. They have been sticking to their chill and groovy tune, while adding new elements and attitudes to their music to make it even stronger. The aspect of improvisation is very clear throughout the track, which only tightens the connection to the Chicago jazz roots. Though, this track seems to add a lot more of an electronic influence to it which is a little bit of a different sound than seen before. They approached this change in a very organic way which makes the development much easier to swallow as a listener. The second track released was called Tidal. This song brings back a lot of their storytelling influences which becomes obvious in the 9:40 track. This track includes a sense of togetherness that the band doesn’t usually seem to have. The story being told is more important than the sound of it which frankly represents the genius of the band as a whole. In this particular song, the lyrics are just a little bit more important than the sound, but the sound remains king as it still remains completely solid in that story. It’s as though the sound is a character in the story that Emily Nichols is telling in a sort of spoken word form at some points. 

The fact of the matter is that my love for this band is limited because of the lack of live performance that I’ve been able to experience. Though they are not widely known, the reputation that they do have states that their live performances are unmatched to the music they have released online. When you hear their magic through speakers in your own home, you can still tell the aspect of live performance is missing. You can feel the pent-up energy that they have in the studio just recording their music because they are much more inclined to perform live than be locked in a box to play.The originality of this band is so beautifully cohesive, and a truly beautiful representation of what the pulse of Chicago sounds like. The band puts together such gorgeous ballads of groove that are born out of true musical genius. This band can never be heard the same twice, and this serves to fulfill a deeper and stronger connection to their Chicago roots. If you haven’t yet, do yourself a favor and give them a listen. Take the journey with us.