That's agitainment. A 59 year old anarchist (a real one, not like John Lydon) political philosophy professor doing vocals, a Blake-ian bassist, a rock critic and biographer of Lester Bangs on drums, and a lead guitarist named G-Haad. Vortis, named for Wyndham Lewis's WWI Vorticist movement, describe their music:  "There is a real affinity between Vortis and some aspects of the punk attitude toward music, life and society that developed in the 1970s and 1980s. Vortis treasures the oppositional stance of punk toward established social institutions and the corporate music of the culture industry. Vortis affirms punk's energy. But it would also be a mistake to carry this identification too far. Punk often took a nihilistic stance toward the world, declining into energetic abjection. In contrast, Vortis follows the early Vorticists' positive program of directing energy toward more intense vitality - in a joyful way - rather than expending it in self-immolating rebellion.

Perhaps the best way to understand Vortis musically is to see it as an injection of the Vorticist artistic project into contemporary musical forms, energizing them and carrying them beyond their established boundaries into new sonic dimensions."

Plus angry politically radical lyrics (some really good, some juvenile or maybe senile) updating The Fugs and early Clash, if that's your beat.
                                                             -Phil Leggiere [3:48 PM]
 

For a band with a 60 year old singer, Vortis sure can do a fairly large amount of rocking that doesn't sound like something from the Rolling Stones. Although most of the songs, both musically and lyrically, are fairly simple this ends up being a pretty enjoyable release, even if some of the lyrics would make you cringe if you missed the sarcasm: "Hail, hail to the oven jew. I'm the son of satan, how do you do?" This CD contains a few songs from their first E.P., including an acoustic cover of "When The Rap Begins To Roll", which is actually the low point of the record in my opinion. Don't let that ruin it for you though, I say give this release a try. I hope I can rock that much when I'm 60.
                                                               -from: Kristofer Wouk
 

This is one of the stranger CDs that I've heard in quite some time, and one that is difficult to nail down. Drawing on genres from rap to punk with a humorous yet political bend, Vortis hits and misses. Sometimes it sounds like protest chanting, sometimes completely nihilistic like on the excellent "Hate our condition," which declares "fuck, fuck, fuck the human race, we want androids in its place." Elsewhere, "Shade Tree Mechanic" serves up some good country-inflected madness: "I'm proud to be a redneck, I was born a New York Jew / I take my Zen with a PBR, find satori after a few." "Afrika" takes on the continent's diamond mines, sweat shops, and political unrest caused by colonization, yet does it in a way is weirdly infectious, getting in your bloodstream like malaria. Hell, there is even an off-humor song cheering on the Unabomber, along with an anarchist song about the false hopes of democracy as a tool for the rich. The vocals are bizarre, and the guitars are gritty and abused. I think I like some of this, although some songs can get really annoying. And I hate the attempts at adding hip hop. Still, jaded sarcasm and eccentricity can get you far in my book. - BL
 

 Vortis -  Take The System Down 

                My biggest gripe with political punk bands has been that they're  usually fronted by kids who have no grasp on the real world. Vortis must've listened to me and went to the extreme opposite: they're fronted by a 60-year old professor of political science. And I have to say, it works. The lyrics are actually intelligent (if sometimes anti-PC, but hey, PC shields reality), and the singing isn't whiny, but a cool warbling, yowling, sorta weird, semi-rap attack. Sort of like if Bob Mould and Les Claypool had a 60-year old child. The guitars have that perfect buzzsaw sound and the drums thump away, maybe a little too enthusiastically. Overall,  they've got a herky-jerky and confrontational sound, very similar to Dead Kennedys. If you like political punk, this is the real deal.
                                                                            -Adam Liebling

Vortis - Take The System Down
Stil: Polit-Punk Rock

Vortis, das ist eine Chicagoer Vier-Mann-Band mit Mike Weinstein, einem 59 jährigen politischen Philosophieprofessor am Mikro sowie Jim DeRogatis, einem Schreiber der Sun Times sowie Kommentar-Verfasser im Spin und Penthouse Magazine an den Drums. Wie die Band zusammengefunden hat, ist mir noch unklar, aber bei so einer ungewöhnlichen Besetzung, war nur ein extremes Album zu erwarten, welches ihnen mit „Take The System Down“ jedoch nicht besonders gut gelungen ist, wobei vor allem der musikalische Part einfach nur langweilig gestaltet wurde.

Textlich hingegen wird hier vom bekennenden Anarchisten und Globalisationsgegner Weinstein ziemlich Interessantes geboten und insbesondere seine, ähnlich wie Noam Chomskys, direkte Art sorgt für Kurzweil und Diskussionsstoff zu Themen wie unter anderem Demokratieverständnis, Militarisierung und dem „Kampf gegen den Terror“, während die musikalische Untermalung, welche größtenteils im Punk Rock-Gewand sowohl mit Street Punk- als auch mit Hardcore-Attitüde daher kommt, einfach nur billig und überflüssig wirkt, sodass ein Spoken Word-Album hier eher angebracht gewesen wäre.

Fazit: Über Weinsteins Aussagen lässt sich streiten, nicht jedoch darüber, dass dies ein langweiliges Werk ist, welches aber genug aggressives Potential besessen hätte. Schade drum...

Wertung: Veir /10
                                                 -Josip

                 Vortis - Take The System Down

70ies Ramones- & Agit-Punk, Anti-Liberale Texte, ausgewaschene Che Guevara Tshirts und einen Jumboklumpen Hass im Hals. Soweit nichts besonderes, mit einer Ausnahme: Mike Weinstein, Frontmann von Vortis, hat die 60 Jahre bereits hinter sich gelassen und könnte mein Opa sein. Schluck!

Ihr habt recht gelesen, wertes 11pm-Volk. Die hochpolitische und radikale Band wird von einem Senior angeführt, der es satt hat, im versnobt-verschönenden Amerika in "Ruhe" seinen Lebensabend zu verleben. Doch damit nicht genug: In seinem "Vorleben" galt Weinstein bereits als philosophischer Querkopf der Universität von Purdue, leitete linksgerichtete Politik-Kurse und macht seit Anfang der 60-er Jahre Musik, damals noch bei den Mike Mystics and the Shades. Eine Ikone, wenn man so will! Sein Kollege DeRogatis an den Drums dürfte eifrigen Lesern ausländischer Zeitungen und -schriften außerdem vielleicht als Redakteur der Chicago Times und Kolumnist von Penthouse (!) bis Spin Magazine bekannt sein. Als sich die beiden zusammen mit 3 weiteren Musikern im Frühjahr 2000 zusammenschlossen stand nur eins fest: Nichts dem Zufall überlassen. Und keinen Stein auf dem anderen! Entsprechend radikal geht es zu Werke, daß selbst Iggy Pop wie Stiefmutters Liebling dasteht.

Die persönliche Tiefe des Herrn Pop erreichen Vortis (benannt nach dem Vortiismus, einer Kunst- und Literaturbewegung Anfang des 20ten Jahrhunderts) zwar nicht, doch finde ich es krass genug, Texte der Songs "hate our condition" oder "shade-tree mechanic" aus der Feder dieser Oldies zu lesen, in denen die Band verdammt offensiv den amerikanischen "Way of Life" angreift, ja geradezu niedermacht. Selbst weltpolitische Themen wie die Afrikanischen Anarchie-Systeme und das Eingreifen der Amerikaner ("Africa") bleiben nicht außen vor, am Ende wird gar lautstark die Anarchie gefordert. Schön, daß es sowas noch gibt. Punk, und ich meine Punk-Leben und nicht Punk-Musik, hört also doch nicht mit 30 auf!

von: Mirko Gläser                         geschrieben am: 03.08.2002
 

Punknews
                    Vortis - Take The System Down                        THICK - 2002

Remember the first time you listened to Crass or Dead  Kennedys? I sure do. I can still remember at first being terrified of the noise that was be blasted from my speakers, all at once it was loud, abrasive, shrieking,  feedback, and vocalist that I could barely listen too. But while my initial reaction was to turn off the stereo and take this disc of noise out, I stopped because underneath all of that there was some being said, a  message that with the music and the singing confronted the listener and challenged them to rethink their position  in the world. It made you question what was happening  in the world and learn more about what you are being told, and dared you to think for yourself. Well flash forward several years, now Crass and DKs are two of my favorite bands and I have trouble remembering the last time I had that same reaction to music, that was until  about two months ago when Scott handed me a CD by a group called Vortis to review. “Well this should be  interesting” I thought, “I’ll see what the Fellow Traveler (a 60 year old philosophy professor from Purdue) can do”. 

Well to put it simply this band blew my mind in just the first three songs. After them I had to shut off my CD player. All at once the feelings from early in my punk life came flooding back to me. While the music was so different than what I had been used to, I knew that they were  saying something important and like the moth drawn to the flame, I needed to hear what they were ranting about. Again I pushed play, the songs I had heard earlier sound better, and I  began to listen more intently to the vocals to hear rants against the exploding boom in technology that is leaving humanity behind (“Hate Our Condition” “Unabomber”), racism and  revolution, and white supremacists (“White Skin Black Heart” “Black Helicopters”) with the lyrics “Hail, hail to the oven Jew! I'm the son of Satan how do you do? The son of Satan wouldn't ever have been if it hadn't been for anti-Semitism. So here I am, a fuckin' no account Jew.  Don't tread on me or I'll stomp on you”, the protests in Seattle and Generation Y’s final lack of apathy (“Generation Y”), and even the impending war with Iraq (“Desert Storm”) are also discussed as well as the failure of Democracy, not only in our own country, but in others as well (“Democracy”) with lyrics: "The American people elected Bush so he could hand them to the fuckin' corporations. The Israeli people voted in Sharon so he could hand them to a fuckin'  conflagration". 

While the political and sociological discussions on this disc provided me with food for thought, the real challenge was the music itself. During my listening I heard elements of punk, funk,  rap, lounge, country, gospel, Arabian, tribal African, noise, and rock. After a few listens the music sounds great and I loved how they never stuck to one formula or predicable sound, each song on hear sounds completely different but at the same time its unified. The hardest part to get used to, and something that might turnoff many listeners, is the singer’s voice. While his singing style does remind me a lot of Jello’s style, only much more high pitched and  nasal (hell the guy is 60, and actually reminds me of one of my grandpas), but if you can get past that one annoyance then you can enjoy what he is saying. 

To try and compare this to any group is an exercise in futility but I would say think of the Dead Kennedys meet Wire and the Butthole Surfers, with elements of Public Enemy and the Big Boys and you might have an idea of what to expect. But perhaps FT, the Fellow Traveler describes  them the best “Our songs take form with no prior design. Each of us adds his unique force,  and together we generate the swirl. As we tighten our sound, strengthen ourselves as the axis of the vortex, we reforge each song each time we play it, and so we never get jaded. All of the tensions within and between our living musical archives are forged together in the noise machine — our vortex — into violent structures. Our breakdowns, our rave-ups, our chaos, shaking up our own structures, bending and twisting them and making them live.”

If you are tired of pigeon holed, easily definable music sounds exactly like ten other bands you can name music you have to get this. If you are tired of being catered to with political anthems that don’t go anywhere, or sound like they were ripped off a bumper sticker  somewhere get this. If you want to be a challenged listener and actually be offended by music again pick this album up. The more and more I listen to this, the better it sounds, and more  FT’s rants and ideas makes sense to me, plus its just refreshing to hear a group with the balls  to be different.
 

 Vortis is a band that is beyond weird. An entire spectrum of strangeness is bridged with Take the System Down. This is seen in  multiple areas, the first of which is the sound. Somewhere between rockabilly, punk, rap, folk-rock, and a slew of other genres,  Vortis plays a style that can really only fall under the moniker of punk. Secondly, there are the lyrics. They're politically based,  but they aren't necessarily leftist, nor do they pertain to the right. Rather, they're supportive of anyone who is against globalized  capitalism. Oh, and then there's some stuff in there about drinking and sex, too. The final part of this montage of unusualness  relates to the band members. This is the strangest aspect. Two of the members (guitarist and bassist) are twenty-somethings, no  different than many a Chicago punk rocker. The drummer for Vortis, however, is Jim DeRogatis, music critic for the Chicago  Sun-Times. But that's not the weirdest part. The lead singer, Michael Weinstein (aka Fellow Traveler) is a 59-year-old political  philosophy professor at Purdue University, a renowned photography critic, and the author of many papers and books. He's also  married to Deena Weinstein, who is a sociologist at DePaul University. Babbling on like a cross between Jello Biafra, Ice Cube,  and Iggy Pop, at live shows Weinstein can be found running around the stage, flipping people off and yelling lines like "fuck, fuck,  fuck the human race." Musically, this is nothing new, as Vortis plays sloppy, varied music that never really finds a steady pattern  throughout its 12 tracks. Nevertheless, the lyrics do invite some questioning, which is a positive thing, and one can't help but  think that the band has got to put on an amazing live show. 
                                                  ~ Kurt Morris, All Music Guide 
 
 
 

 VORTIS
"Take The System Down" CD
An eclectic mix of distorted, pissed, quirky punk rock. At times, reminiscent of early BUTTHOLE SURFERS, at others, of a tweaked CRASS. If that tickles your fancy, then good.
       -(Ramsey Kanaan)
 

But anyway... Also playing with Loraxx was Sun-Times' rock critic (and big Loraxx fan) Jim DeRogatis' insane rock band, Vortis, fronted by
Michael Weinstein, a Purdue U political science professor. Provocative political raps and rants over energizing, crunchy, punky, loud, hard rock
(and boy is that bassist cute). I fuckin' loved it and can't wait to hear them again. I think it mostly confused the audience though. *shrug* Well, the White Stripes' fans confuse me so... 
 

Vortis  Take The System Down  (Mike Weinstein, Jim DeRogatis) 
           Thick 81  Released on August 6, 2002    $12.25

TAKE THE SYSTEM DOWN is radical political punkrock by cats who know their shit. A Chicago foursome, Its members include vocalist Mike Weinstein, a 59-year-old political philosophy professor at Purdue University and a renowned photography critic, and drummer Jim DeRogatis, the rock critic at the Chicago Sun- Times, a contributor to Spin, Penthouse, Guitar World, Modern Drummer, and other magazines, and the author of Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America’s Greatest Rock Critic. Recorded last summer at Überstudio, Chicago, by Brendan Burke (Screeching Weasel, Freakwater, Ken Vandermark), This record ihas both bark and bite.  Tell a friend about this item 
 
 

Vortis - Take the System Down   (File Under Agitainment),
                                                  (Thick) www.thickrecords.com 
 If I've got this right at all, Mike Weinstein (FT, he calls himself here) is a philosophy professor from Perdue  university who spends his spare time being an upstart, a campus agitator in the frizzy Abby Hoffman tradition.  Vortis, so named in homage to some obscure, Ezra Pound-led art movement in the early 20th century, is his  back-up band, comprised of younger, though no less Yippified, educators and intellectuals. Together they mix  up clanging indie-rock and old-school punk with FT's "Revolution Now" ranting on "Take the System Down",  which sounds like a particularly profane Dead Kennedy's album, minus the thrash but with many, many bathtub chemicals tossed in. There is no charm to FT's voice- he sounds like an angry, drunken biker- so the band does a lot for smoothing out his barks of protest. What's he so mad about? You know, WTO, the Middle East, racial tension, the Unabomber, that kind of thing. Is he insane? Probably pretty close. At the very least, he's really
 fucking with is tenure on these tracks. Fans of Copernicus, John Giorno, Brother Theodore, and other intellectual nuts with microphones and an affection for Sonic Youth will love this. Me, I'm from Cambridge,
 baby. I've got guys like FT breaking it down for me on every subway ride. 
 

Ink 19
             Vortis   -   Take the System Down   -  Thick
Academic art-punk from Vortis, here, a hugely entertaining anti-capitalist and anti-technology four-piece dedicated to, well, taking the system down. Part thought provoking, part hilarious, and mainly plain weird, Vortis underline their anarchistic lyrical leanings by performing music that exists in some rarely visited country-dub-rap-punk-rock-indie zone. Madness. And, incidentally, pretty good stuff too.

While they supposedly have a thing for writing songs on the spot,
it's really only on the ridiculously out-of-tune "Generation Y" that they come up with something that's just too punk for its own good. Elsewhere, they tend to come across like a political study group consisting of Sex Pistols, Talking Heads and Rednex, and tracks like "We Hate Our Condition," "Black Helicopters," and "Afrika" all prove that that's a surprisingly likeable concept.

                      Thick Records: http://www.thickrecords.com
                                                               Stein Haukland
 

Vortis is led by Mike Weinstein, who is in his early 60s, and a professor at Purdue University. Backing him are, music critic, Jim Derogatis on the drums, G Haad (haha) on guitar, and Johnny Los on bass. Vortis is very forthright with their political views and very catchy with their tunes.

When I first listened through this whole CD, I thought, "Damn, these guys are idiots." Lyrics like "We face a deadly foe / a mean fuckin' ho," or "I am the prophet of death, disease and decay / Caress my cock, I need another lay!" make you think of a typical redneck, with stubborn political views in favor of bombing everyone/everything. Lucky for you, Mike Weinstein isn't the typical redneck. This is an educated redneck who actually knows what he is talking about.

The opening track, "Fellow Traveler," introduces the listener to the system that Vortis are trying to bring down:  democracy. They claiming "it's all a piece of scatology," which I had to look up, and I found it means the study of  shit as a science. That's pretty fun. The second track is the usual "technology will be our downfall" rant, with excessive use of the word "fuck" for flair. Which is pretty nifty in itself, because how often do you hear someone over 60 say fuck over 25 times in two minutes.

"Shade Tree Mechanic" strays away from political rants for a second, and Weinstein sings about being a redneck in Lafayette. This song showcases emotionally deep lyrics, that any emo kid would have a problem deciphering "Ameriky gives you a kiss when you're in Layfeeyet / Am I a Hoosier patriot? / Well fuck your ass you bet!" "Generation Y," my favorite track, opens to  clapping hands before Weinstein begins to sing. I can only think to describe his voice as jerky with a slight drawl. The instruments pop in mid-lyric, and these guys begin to rock out. The much repeated chorus is sure to get stuck in your head. They definitely get their point across on each song. 

"Afrika" is another cool song, opening with African drums and voices (I assume), then going on to explain the woes of the African nation. But I have to admit, I like it mostly because of the cool African names and how Weinstein rhymes them. "Foday Sankoh know which was the wind blow," "Robert Mugabe (moo gah bay) the terror of Zimbabwe," and then my favorite, "Thabo Mbeki isn't very  techie." "Democracy" reveals just how anti-democracy Vortis really is, singing "Down with democracy, down with the bitch / Democracy's a tool of the filthy rich," then advocating anarchy as the only way.

Vortis is educated but also contradicting and cliché at times. For example, in "Unabomber" Weinstein rages against Microsoft. I'm sure, however, that almost all those accessing his website, or the record labels website, would be using Windows. Not to mentions the sources of his information for which he is fighting against. Be it the Internet, textbooks, or television, they all go hand-in-hand with computers. The music itself isn't dazzling, mostly power chords. It has a nice creative feel to it though, like they play well together, and that's nice.

The vocals are cheesy catchy, and the choruses are pounded into your brain. Despite the setbacks, however, Vortis still accomplishes their central goal, spreading their ideas of politics. I doubt this band ever planned to blow people away musically, or to impress listeners with amazing lyrics. This is why the pound-into-your-head  choruses work for Vortis. Basically, if you want to  understand the viewpoint of an accredited university's political philosophy professor or if you want to hear an old guy cuss, check out Vortis.

                                                      - Joe, 9/16/02
 

Splendid 'zine
              splendid > reviews > 9/10/2002

There are two schools of thought regarding bands that feature music critics. Some listeners feel that because those critics have heard every "seminal" and "landmark" recording of the last fifty years, and many more mediocre/bad ones, they're obligated by education and credibility to be absolutely brilliant. Other listeners realize that the critic, fully aware that he can't please everyone all the time, has decided to simply have a good time playing a band, figuring that the two pursuits are entirely different gigs. All of which brings us to Vortis, a politically minded quartet fronted by 59-year old Purdue political philosophy professor Michael Weinsten and featuring noted rock journalist Jim DeRogatis on the traps.Take the System Down, the group's maiden voyage, provides a worthy
assessment of punk's past, but, predictably, adds relatively little to its present or future. 

The band's basic punk rock attack, while spruced up by some inventive sampling (Public Enemy/'50s B-Movies) and forays into pseudo-country balladeering ("When the Rap Begins to Roll") never quite delivers the kick to the teeth you'd expect from an old-school punk act (Damned/Sham 69/Adverts), and Weinstein's vocals, while erudite, caustic and funny, are delivered in an increasingly annoying quasi-rap fashion that, at times, diminishes their thought-provoking nature. Still, once you get past the fact that Vortis aren't going to change the music world, the band turns out to be pretty entertaining -- the sort of act you'd pay to see once in a while, but wouldn't drive more than half an hour to see. In other words, they aren't exactly the new Clash -- but ardent fans of politi-punk should certainly consider going a few rounds with Take the System Down.

-Jason Jackowiak

Action Attack Hellicopter 'Zine
                       Vortis
                       Take The System Down [cd]
                       Thick Records
     This whole thing is beyond weird. The spectrum is bridged with Take The System Down. Allow  me to explain myself. 
1) The sound. Somewhere between rockabilly, punk, rap, folk rock and a slew of other genres,  Vortis plays a style which can really only fall under the moniker of "punk". 
2) Lyrics. The lyrics aren't necessarily leftist, nor do they pertain to the right. Rather, they're  supportive of anyone who is against globalized capitalism. Oh, and then there's some stuff in  there about drinking and sex, too. 
3) The band members. This is the strangest aspect. Two of the members (guitarist and bassist)  are twenty-somethings, no different than many a Chicago punk rocker. The drummer for Vortis,  however, is Jim DeRogatis, who many of you may not know, but he is the music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. Oh, but that's not the weirdest part. In what is no doubt one of the strangest things I've seen in some time (and thankfully proving to me that life doesn't end after 50), the lead singer, Michael Weinstein (aka Fellow Traveler) is a 59 year old political  philosophy professor at Purdue University, renowned photography critic and author of many  papers and books. He's also married to Deena Weinstein, who is a sociologist at DePaul University. Weird, weird, weird. Very weird. Babbling on like a cross between Jello Biafra, Ice Cube and Iggy Pop, at live shows he evidently runs around the stage, flipping people off and yelling lines like, "fuck, fuck, fuck the human race." 
      Musically, this is nothing new as Vortis plays sloppy, varied music that never really finds a steady pattern throughout its 12 tracks and frankly I can't really recommend this. But the lyrics do invite some questioning, which is a positive thing and I can't help but think that Vortis has got to put on an amazing live show, even though I've never seen them. Yeah, they're probably a gimmicky band, but wouldn't you pay a few bucks to see the music critic at one of the nation's major papers and a 59 year old professor singing "Caress my cock, I need another lay"? I can't help but think there's a good chance I might. - Kurt Morris 

                                              Vortis: Take the System Down
                                              Label: Thick Records
                                              Review By: Tim Krysko
                                                                             Grade: B+
I bet more people refer to Vortis as 'that band with the 59 year-old university professor vocalist' than as their band name. But there's two good reasons for that. One is, they are 'that band with the 59 year-old
university professor vocalist', and probably the only band that can be described as such. Two is, 'Vortis' is a pretty dumb name in my opinion, because it sounds more like the name of an enemy planet in a  sci-fi movie than a punk band.

I immediately give a lot of respect to Vortis, though, because they are an extremely daring bunch of guys. Not only is singer Michael Weinstein daring even for attempting to kick some ass old school style at his age and experience, but lyrically they take stabs at all sorts of groups and individuals from racial  supremists ("Hail, hail to the over Jew! I'm the son of Satan how do you do? The son of Satan wouldn't ever have been if it hadn't been for anti-Semetism. So here I am, a fuckin' no account Jew. Don't tread on me or I'll stomp on you.") to political figures ("The American people elected Bush so he could hand them to the fuckin' corporations. The Israeli people voted in Sharon so he could hand them to a fuckin' conflagration").

Musically, Vortis is most daring of all. There's a bit of old school punk (and Weinstein is old enough to know old school punk better than anyone else; he's been playing rock music since the 60s), some folk rock tendencies, and a charismatic hip flavor that is one part ghetto style, one part crazed old man rambling. It's definitely a spectacle to be heard, and I can only hope one day, to be seen. 

Illinois Entertainer  September 2002
              Review of Take the System Down
       The purist stereotype says that rock'n'roll is the raw, primal terrain of pimply youth and has little room for ideas and philosophies. Every now and then, though, a bunch of radicals (Gang Of Four. Rage Against The Machine) or geeky rock critics (Pere Ubu, St. Etienne) will take a stab at turning ideas into credible music. Add to that list Chicago's two-year-old Vortis, featuring political philosophy professor Mike Weinstein on vocals and Sun-Times rock critic Jim DeRogatis on drums, which makes its full-length debut with Take The System Down. 
       The group gets its name from Vorticism, a pre-WWI artistic movement that aimed to create "violent structures of adolescent clearness" - an apt description of rock'n'roll, if only its proponents were intellectual enough to grasp the concept, and Vortis believes they are. That's why the foursome (also featuring guitarist G Haad and bassist Johnny Los) packs anti-authoritarian messages into its songs without espousing any particular viewpoint; Vortis wants its audience to make up their own minds.
       Although Vortis claims to be genre-free, it is actually a fairly straightforward hard-rock unit incorporating samples and a slight punk influence. What makes Vortis different is Weinstein's sarcastic, sometimes nasal rap/shout vocal style coupled with his inflammatory lyrics - who else would write about the Unabomber? It's hard not to wish that the music itself were more radical and liberating, though.
                                                                             -                     5                      Charlotte Robinson
 

Bullsheet Zine #8 August 2002
               Review of Take the System Down

It doesn¹t seem like punk rock has been a very progressive genre in the last few years. The same sounding bands playing stupid songs about girls, the warped tour and how angry they are to be growing up in the suburbs with a weekly allowance. Vortis is not traditional punk, but carries so many of the traits that make a punk band good. The music is simple and loud, just like so many other bands. The thing that sets them apart is their 60 year old vocalist, Mike Weinstein, a professor and psycho. His lyrics are shockingly un-PC which is strange in this day and age. The topics he covers range from
urging the youth to fight the power, mocking the ignorance of the average American, racism, screaming for anarchy, mocking the idiocy of current social and political situations, to his ever present mortality (remember he is 60). The lyrics do go over the top at certain points, but he never apologizes for his opinions which is certainly bold. The music itself is also remarkable, some of the songs incorporate hip hop in a way that¹s not jockish and lame, but actually sound listen-able and fun. Mike¹s rambling vocals sound like a crazed hobo ranting about his life while being drunk and it all works out well in the end. These guys don¹t seem to have any rules
they follow, musically or philosophically which I guess was the original idea to punk rock. If you can put up with some of the lyrics, this is a great album.
                                                                - Bruce Dyck 
 

Vortis is like falling asleep for days in sun and waking up with 3rd degree burns all over your body. You can suck down some vodka, shower, take painkillers, screw, sleep ... anyway you slice it, there is no relief from the pain. Anti-PC to the point of making you shake your head and say to yourself, "They didn't just say, what I think they said, did they?" The answer is, "Yes they did." This is no newbie punk outfit, but rather a intelligencia super-group of sorts. Composed of folks who do know their asses from a hole in the ground, Vortis is fronted by 59 year old, Purdue, political philosophy professor, critic and author, Mike Weinstien (aka F.T.) on vocals and the much respected rock critic and author, Jim DeRogatis hitting the skins. Vortis rages against the machine without coming off as preaching, pompous fools. Their music is genuinely hilarious and brutally sarcastic. This is one of those rare occasions where the listener is lyrically lambasted and thoroughly entertained at the same time. Needless to say, Vortis is highly recommended. Word to your motha.
 

This band is sure to turn some heads due to the notoriety of its members (including political science professor Mike Weinstein on vocals and author/Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis on drums), but they're likely to get just as much notice for their visceral music and radical political stances. "The Ballad of Mumia Abu Jamal" contains these lyrics: "Abu, fuck you, you're gonna fry, whooptie-do!... Fuck the police, I don't mean kill 'em!" And you can guess the subject of "Unabomber Fight Song." Vortis is all about pushing the listener's buttons: These stances won't win fans with the slogan-sporting, Che Guevara T-shirt-wearing crew, but they'll be sweet stuff for people whose beliefs lie outside mainstream thought. "Violent Structures" is a batch of decidedly un-P.C. stompers that bring to mind the brilliantly annoying Bad Brains, but with a generally slower, more hypnotic feel. What sets this band apart from others in this style is their ability to groove: The rhythm section propels the songs with ease, and these anti-social pipe bombs actually end up quite dance-worthy. It's a nice hat trick. Vortis' greatest attribute is that they make radical idealism sound like a huge, raging party. If this doesn't move you (or at least piss you off), you should really check your pulse. 
                                                                       -- Nate Perry

"Market Day: The second annual Back Yard flea market went off without a hitch, and just like last year, the weather was hot and added no interference. Three things, however, stood out. During the Arrivals set, local punk rock band Vortis did their own acoustic set, a little less than a football field away—sort of a punk rock reaction to punk rock. While the Arrivals pumped out technically proficient, technically recycled punk rock, the dozen or so people watching Vortis were treated to lead singer Michael Weinstein (New City's photography critic) chanting the band's hardcore, both-wing mantras ("Unibomber Unibomber fight fight fight!" and "Down with democracy!"), a pro-Osama Bin Laden song and certainly the strangest band configuration of the day (two youngsters on guitar, Sun-Times rock critic Jim DeRogatis on percussion and a smiling gray-bearded radical). You'll hear more about Vortis soon, as the band recently signed with Thick Records. "