Jacket required

In honor of the near 35-year wait Chicago has endured to lay eyes on them, weβve waited βtil the weekend to preview The Raincoatsβ appearance on Monday.
For a band constantly name-dropped in reference to Nirvana, itβs a little surprising more Americans arenβt feverishly anticipating this tour. This will be β despite lasting for several years and enjoying a brief, grunge-era reunion β The Raincoatsβ city debut, which sounds absurd. They were one of the first and one of the only female post-punk bands in Londonβs crowded class of β77, a context that perhaps deceives newcomers into preparing themselves for a banshee attack. Combine it with the fact Kurt Cobain wrote the liners to the reissue of their self-titled debut, Hole covered one its tracks, and the β90s riot-grrrl scene was rooted on its foundation . . . you see where this is going.
Not that itβs smart to lump their records together, but the remarkable thing about them β including Kill Rock Starsβ fresh reissue of 1981βs Odyshape β is their restraint. Unorthodox arrangements, acoustic instruments (in punk rock?), and ultra-personal lyrics were all laid out by a quartet with almost no experience playing music. And the sounds just so happened to launch a thousand ships. Some, including their own, have arrived later than others. (Monday@Double Door with Grass Widow and Brain Idea.)
β Steve Forstneger
Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly