Duenow, Pay Later

Duenow
Elbo Room, Chicago
Saturday, March 6, 2006

Because Zach Duenow plays guitar and sings in the band that bears his last name, and his wife, Dorothea, is the group’s drummer, it’s a safe bet Duenow have and will receive far too many comparisons to a certain other (one-time) husband/wife, guitar/drums rock duo.

So if the Chicago couple is reading this they are likely shaking their heads and rolling their eyes: “Another fucking White Stripes comparison?” (We added the cuss word for dramatic effect. (Zach does have a bit of a nasally wail going on and Dorothea’s drumming, like Meg’s, is skeletal –the old “she knows when to play and when not to” description –but the similarities between the two are really in band structure alone. While Jack and Meg generally prefer the safety of their blues rock revival comfort zone, Zack and Dorothea dip their toes in just about anything, including punk, folk, country, rock, blues, and even hip-hop. In fact, they even describe themselves as sounding “something like Eminem, Woodie [sic] Guthrie, and The Sex Pistols.”

Eminem? When is the last time you heard Jack White bust a rhyme?

Saturday’s show is the release party for Duenow’s The Draft LP. New York hard rock outfit The Giraffes were scheduled to play, but canceled.

—Trevor Fisher

Click here to download Duenow’s “What Goes Up Must Go Down.”

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly