End of days
All of this weekend ahead of us, and it’s Monday we want to talk about? Uhhhh, is that a problem? Cuz we really will thump you so hard!
First off, the following Saturday recommendations are contingent upon you not spending all day at Lincoln Square’s German-American Fest. One of the rare, Teuton-themed neighborhood parties to actually feature German beers (we’re looking at you, St. Alphonsus), we’re talking sauerkraut, all manner of sausages, potato pancakes, and an oom-pah band that just don’t quit.
But perhaps you’re nearest to Berwyn and don’t feel like navigating the CTA or taking the Western bus that far north. Lucky you, Off Broadway hero Cliff Johnson will be cutting down the willing in his new solo guise. We’d tell you more, but our Terrence Flamm is a CJ guru, so we’ll direct you to his Broken Hearted Toy blog to tell you what we could only feebly attempt. (Saturday@FitzGerald’s with The Romeros.)
There’s also this ridiculous local bill in Wicker Park, featuring an irreproachable slate of Apteka, Sissy Mena, and Secret Colours. Folks who buy into the idea of a local shoegaze revival probably aren’t surprised to see Apteka and Sissy Mena share a stage, though to break into their flats and dust for My Bloody Valentine and Ride fingerprints might come up negative. The former hang rather clearly on the rock edge of things and have begun to move past their spacy, atmospheric origins into something unstoppably rhythmic. The latter don’t seem to be so entranced by their foot pedals, bringing their heads up for a little ’80s indie jangle and generally pushing a lack of self-awareness. Secret Colours represent the wild card, a band whose spelling gives away their Anglophiliac persausions. Though clear Stone Roses and Suede influence has ties to shoegaze, those bands were also the beginnings of Britpop. (Saturday@Subterranean with Kam.)
You had last Monday off? Whoops. It’s all indie-rock power when next week gets into gear. First, Pavement reprise their headlining gig at the summer’s Pitchfork Music Festival with Sub Pop upstarts No Age in direct support. There’s really nothing to report about the former, other than at Pitchfork they ran through a surprisingly straightforward greatest-hits set to help Matador sell copies of Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement. (Speaking of selling, this is the rare ticketed Pritzker Pavilion show.) No Age will position themselves as “band with something to prove,” because their sophomore Sub Pop set, Everything In Between, ties itself to the vinyl format. Gone from Side A is most of the debut’s sonic gauze, replaced by a fragile, lo-fi mix that threatens to snap like an overused cassette while thoughts of the first Velvets album rumble by. “Katerpillar” then flags down No Age’s patented whitewash, plugging gaps with symphonic, feedback dirges until lining up all ducks for the aptly titled “Shred And Transcend.” (Monday@Millennium Park.)
Finally — in case you thought the above photo was taken in a voyeuristic surge — we have Jenny & Johnny, a major step in the courtship of Rilo Kiley‘s Jenny Lewis and solo stud Johnathan Rice. More a his towel than a hers, the interlocked duo nonetheless can’t help bask in Lewis’ irrepressible sass despite her cloying self-marketing. (Monday@Lincoln Hall with Love As Laughter and Jaill.)
— Steve Forstneger
Category: Featured, Stage Buzz, Weekly
