Recent Articles
Together Again
Fig Dish Schubas, Chicago Saturday, March 4, 2006 When we last heard from Fig Dish, they were two different bands called Caviar and Ness. Food association notwithstanding, the band were a late addition to the Chicago major-label surge in the mid 1990s, pimping their dense power pop at a time when (Everclear, Spacehog) it seemed […]
NOFX, The Lawrence Arms, The Loved Ones Preview
NOFX, The Lawrence Arms, The Loved Ones House Of Blues, Chicago Sunday, March 5, 2006 Math class time: take two bands, one described by their official Web site as possibly one of the last punk rock bands “keeping it real,” another described by numerous MySpacers with one four letter expletive in gerund form followed by […]
Impossible . . . At First
The Impossible Shapes, Dogme 95 Subterranean, Chicago Monday, March 6, 2006 I admit I wasn’t immediately sold on The Impossible Shapes‘ TUM. The record, which will be released on CD the day after the band’s Chicago gig and was released last year on vinyl through St. Ives, felt uneven upon the first few listens. While […]
Change In Your Pocket?
The folks at 88.7 WLUW ain’t beatin’ around the bush. The message is simple: Give ’em some money.
Love That Ian
Ian Love Ian Love (Limekiln) What about old punks makes us let them go soft on us? Forget John Doe gone country/roots. Think Bob Mould. Lou Barlow. Paul Weller. Locally, we have Hanalei and Owen, even occasional heartthrob Matt Skiba.
Stephen Fretwell CD Review
Stephen Fretwell Magpie (Fiction/Interscope) Delicate Brit singer-songwriter sounds more South Jersey than Southampton (or hometown Scunthorpe).
Tresspassers William CD Review
Tresspassers William Having (Nettwerk) SoCal gloompop outfit’s second album steps on your chest . . . two, three . . . releases.
Santana Minus Michelle Branch
Santana Santana III (Columbia/Legacy) Tidy two-disc pack adds three unissued studio recordings and full ’71 set from Fillmore West.
Metal Hearts CD Review
Metal Hearts Socialize (Suicide Squeeze) Adversarial Baltimore duo add a new dimension to the co-ed sweepstakes.
New Heights?
Hawthorne Heights If Only You Were Lonely (Victory) Label’s fastest-selling band gets ducks in a row for sophomore album/professional debut.
Robbie Lee CD Review
Robbie Lee Sleep, Memory (I And Ear) Savant musician’s “mathematically governed” solo debut pulls ideas in with abandon, ends up sounding like an acid casualty.
Cashing In
Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash 16 Biggest Hits (Columbia/Legacy) There is no escape. But among the more thoughtful Cash family reissues coinciding with Walk The Line is one featuring their duets.
Double The ZZ!
ZZ Top Tres Hombres/Fandango! (Warner Bros.) Texas boogie kingpins get re-releases for back-to-back platinum albums.
Cover Story: Neko Case
Neko Case Time Won’t Let Me In order to reach Neko Case via phone, you have to dial the least-populous time zone in the continental United States. You must reprogram yourself and remember your scheduled 3 p.m. Mountain Standard Time interview means not calling at 2 p.m. Chicago time like it would be when calling […]
Queen & Paul Rodgers
Queen Is Dead, Long Live Queen The idea of a legendary band continuing without its original lead singer is by no means new. It’s been adapted by everyone from stadium rockers INXS, Journey, and Chicago’s own Styx to the slightly modified monikers of psychedelic superstars The Doors Of The 21st Century and The Dead. On […]
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