In the Reader‘s 2012 Best of Chicago issue, I named the Hecks as this town’s best new rock duo. Since I first saw them in late 2011, I’ve been waiting patiently for a proper release from the two-piece, and finally, on Tue 2/26, we’ll have their debut 45, out on local label Moniker Records. The record’s A side, “Trust & Order,” which is available for listening on Moniker’s SoundCloud, is today’s 12 O’Clock Track, and makes me really excited to hear the other half of the seven-inch.
“Trust & Order” offers a more obvious sense of melody than the Hecks tracks I’ve heard in the past. The song’s main guitar line is pretty but abstract, something taken directly from the Sonic Youth playbook. Drummer Zach Hebert is still channeling Steve Shelley with his controlled, inventive beats and his maraca-beat toms. The end of the track opens up into a pretty, groovy, dissonant coda and the whole thing is catchy and fun and still a little strange. I can only imagine how great side B of this single is going to be.