Stage Buzz
Ludo preview
Ludo Metro, Chicago Thursday, February 28, 2008 Unlike the band’s namesake, Ludo bears no resemblance to the gigantic, dumpy creature with a heart of gold in Jim Henson’s 1986 cult film, Labyrinth. Actually, take that back, the St. Louis-based quintet does embody a sound as enormous as Henson’s creation and flirts with darkly comedic subject […]
Tim Mahoney preview
Tim Mahoney Duffy’s, Chicago Monday, March 4, 2008 The name on the album cover says Tim Mahoney, but you might as well call him Frank, Joe, or Larry – even Moe or Curly for that matter. You aren’t going to remember his name after hearing Stay/Leave anyway.
Nicole Atkins & The Sea preview
Nicole Atkins & The Sea Subterranean, Chicago Thursday, February 21, 2008 Accolades for Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black were well-earned, though the album’s old-R&B/hip-hop marriage was clearly contrived and felt occasionally forced. Nicole Atkins can’t touch Winehouse for personality or moxy, but her Neptune City (Red Ink/Columbia) is decidedly less self-conscious about its chosen idiom.
John Ralston preview
John Ralston Schubas, Chicago Thursday, February 21, 2008 Like the wolf brigade of recent times (Wolf Parade, Wolf Eyes, Wolfmother), is a vampire resurgence on the rise? Vampire Weekend already have the indie press tied up in knots and now John Ralston’s sophomore release, Sorry Vampire (Vagrant), follows suit. The South Florida native didn’t leave […]
Singer preview
Singer Subterranean, Chicago Friday, February 22, 2008 There’s a classic part (or two) in This Is Spinal Tap where Nigel, David, and Derek attempt to harmonize their vocals while singing “Heartbreak Hotel,” inspired by the fact they’re visiting The King’s grave. It’s hard, when listening to Singer’s Unhistories (Drag City), not to think about that […]
Dengue Fever preview
Dengue Fever Empty Bottle, Chicago Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Ry Cooder aside, American rock musicians are all about approximating or idealizing when chasing foreign tones. Not to pick on Beirut or Devotchka, but their only authenticity is the indie rock underpinning. Ethan and Zac Holtzman didn’t want to be total charlatans when they formed L.A.’s […]
Horrorpops preview
Horrorpops Metro, Chicago Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Is Hamlet a Danish national icon? When their cartoonists aren’t provoking Islam, does Shakespeare’s brooding anti-hero cast a pall over the panels? Because Copenhagen’s biggest rock exports, The Raveonettes and Horrorpops, have a relationship with darkness that extends beyond fashion.
Exodus preview
Exodus, Warbringer Pearl Room, Mokena Saturday, February 16, 2008 Exodus’ influence on the origin of thrash metal is being pushed hard to promote the group’s new album (eighth overall), The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A (Nuclear Blast). We are, after all, in the midst of a full-blown thrash revival. But consider this: In 1986, the year […]
L’Ocelle Mare preview
L’Ocelle Mare Fuck Mountain Loft, Chicago Friday, February 15, 2008 Thomas Bonvalet don’t wanna work. He just wants to bang on his guitar all day.
A Place To Bury Strangers preview
A Place To Bury Strangers Schubas, Chicago Sunday, February 17, 2008 By Sunday you should have Valentine’s Day out of your system: Drained of the inner pain and humiliation; ready to exact revenge on a society that places vacant companionship above all else; looking for A Place To Bury Strangers.
Danny Burns preview
Danny Burns’ Defectors Martyrs’, Chicago Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Hailing from County Donegal in Ireland, this Chicago-based singer-songwriter, on first listen, sounds like the next coming of longtime local staple, South Sider Michael McDermott. On Danny Burns’ Defectors debut, Grace & Mercy (TL), the 26-year-old does, indeed, channel a young McDermott, but shades of fellow […]
MGMT & Yeasayer preview
MGMT, Yeasayer Schubas, Chicago Friday, February 8, 2008 Sometimes a band just can’t get out of their own way. MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular (Columbia) is an ELO-sized fiesta, a Swedish-pop spectacular that’ll rack up year-end top-10 points* while maintaining indie-band-on-a-major buzz.
Will Hoge preview
Will Hoge Double Door, Chicago Friday, February 8, 2008 Listening to Will Hoge’s “Dirty Little War” is like digging your heart out with a spoon. The Nashville-based singer’s husky vocals break as the song ventures down a weary path with no end in sight from enclosing doom. In other words, it’s glorious.
Machine Head preview
Machine Head Pearl Room, Mokena Friday, February 8, 2008 Machine Head had a pretty killer 2007, no thanks to us. By us, I mean me. I more or less trashed The Blackening (Roadrunner) in a “Spins” review last summer, saying Machine Head “failed to write engaging material” and that none of the songs were memorable […]
Soft preview
Soft Empty Bottle, Chicago Sunday, February 10, 2008 Self-proclaimed studio rats Soft owe a big debt to the blueprints of shoegazer bands (My Bloody Valentine, Ocean Colour Scene) of early-’90s Britain, with a seiche of psychedelic guitars and an analog rumble of big drum beats.
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