Radio Free Chicago

Coming Around To The Like — Again

About five years back, I picked up a pretty good album by a trio of teenage Cali girls known as The Like. In fact, that album, Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?, pretty much embodied the pretty good album: it was pretty and it was good, and that's about all that I recall about it.

Precocious though the girls were, the album slid out of my rotation and out of my forefront consciousness after only a few listens — not because it was bad by any means, but because its hazy production and Jenny-Lewis-on-Quaaludes vocals worked best as a passing pleasure. I noted it as a promising start from a talented young group who hadn't quite found a footing beyond work(wo)manlike dream-pop a la Death Cab, and filed it away in my subconscious amongst Metroid maps and endless Seinfeld gags.

So, forgive me if I haven't quite been keeping close tabs on The Like since 2005, and if I managed to overlook the fact that they released their second album, Release Me, this past June. In fact, Release Me only appeared on my radar last week when a local bar DJ spun a particularly succulent nugget of retro girl-group pop — the kind of cut that just nagged at me to go over and ask about the artist behind the sugar rush. "No way," I scoffed in disbelief. "The Like?"

The Like - Release Me

Sure enough, The Like obviously spent the five-year interim between albums wrapped in a cocoon, because Release Me marks nothing other than a total metamorphosis — from rote early-oughts indie to retro-fab Brit-pop in the style of the Pipettes and the Donnas. In fact, given that The Like dropped one member before their massive makeover, I'm a bit surprised they didn't just go ahead and change their name, but I'm not going to quibble over semantics. Release Me stands head-and-shoulders above Are You Thinking, and the vintage switch-up suits vocalist Z Berg like a pair of chic black opera gloves.

So check out the title cut from Release Me, posted above, and don't feel bad if you let this one slip past the indie goalie — I'm a few months late to the party myself, but now I get to bank on The Like to warm up my fading summer and carry me on through to the fall.

Get Your Thursday Night 'G' Spot-On At The Metro

 Gayngs - Faded High

I must confess that I've been hyped about musics new supergroup, Gayngs since last winter when a friend from Minneapolis let the beans spill that she "heard someone at first avenue talk about it.".  I didn't know what to expect at first because I knew Solid Gold's music and I knew Digitata's music. Combine them and what sort of love child would they create? Well, when Ryan Olson (Digitata), Zack Coulter and Adam Hurlburt (Solid God) decided they wanted to put out a record I'm sure they didn't expect the enticing album, Relayted. The album is rich with synthesized groves that will make you want to get out your Hugh Hefner robe and pipe and call all the bunnies you know over for a good time. The album lends other local Minneapolis talent, POS and Dessa among Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Megafun, and Leisure Birds to name a few. 

Gayngs will be playing the Metro with Glasser on September 30th at 9 PM. It's unknown how many performers will be on the tour, but you can expect Bon Iver, Solid Gold, MIchael Lewis (Happy Apple/Andrew Bird), Ivan Rosebud (The Rosebuds) Megafaun, and Jack Luck (Leisure Birds) to be there. I'm sure many more will make an appearance, as the entire crew is rumored to be 24 people. Every musician involved with Gayngs has their own steady musical career and when you invite them all over to play music you get a talented, new ironic album.

Relayted as a whole flows with unbelievable ease. From the first track, The Gaudy Side of Town the transitions are flawless. What makes the album of the most recently hyped supergroup even better is that all of the tracks stand alone, as well as blend perfectly side by side when listening full through. If the album doesn't make you want to get tangled into the legs of your lover, or one that you need find, then you are doing it wrong. Play album again, make moves on lover.  I dare you to play Crystal Rope for someone and be left with your clothes on, not smoking a cigarette. The Last Prom on Earth will take you back to slow dancing with the captain of the football team, or in my case, my best guy friend who was into photography and theatre. Only this time at the end of the song the you are likely to be snogging in a tight embrace.  

 

In support of Gayngs you also get to see Glasser (Cameron Mesirow) who is debuting her album, _Ring. Which is complete with haunting vocals over electronic beats, acoustic percussion and xylophone among many, many other instruments. Xylophone, people! There is a ghostly tribal feel that puts a sense of ease and at home to her songs. She has nailed blending mass instruments and sweet haunting delicate lyrics that are way beyond outside the box. Glasser will leave you feeling in a state of walking life and questioning the reality of which you encompass. Her music is earthy and dreamy without being forced, you will not be disappointed, you will be mesmerized. 

Again the show is at The Metro in Chicago on September 30th. Doors open at 8 PM, show starts at 9 PM. Tickets are $19 in advance and $21 day of. Will I give up my standard show attire (Mini skirt and deep v-neck) for a more "Last Prom on Earth" appropriate attire? Quite possibly. 

Gayngs - Gaudy Side Of Town

 

 

RFC Interview: Gayngs!

Earlier this month I had the honor to speak with Ryan Olson, the genius and leader of the Midwestern supergroup that is leaving mere bloggers to Prince hushed and entranced over Relayted. With its soothing sax whispering sweet nothings in your ear, accompanied by Justin Vernon, Maggie Morrison, Zach Coulter, and Dessa amongst (18) others, the 69 beats per minute magnum opus to 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" is about to hit the road for the first time. September 29th, Milwaukee swoons and succumbs at Turner Hall. September 30th, Chicago's inner fire is rekindled at the Metro.

Gayngs - Faded High

What are your feelings about taking Gayngs out on tour and into the wild?

I think it'll be pretty wild. It'll be fun as hell to see these folks again, to basically try to recreate or reinterpret the album.

I noticed you'll have about ten or half of the members. What can people expect then compared to the album (which had 23 members involved)?

It'll be pretty right on. We've only played it once before and it was with everybody. I think that when trying to get everybody to play, it suffered in band quality-ish. A ten-piece will be easier to wrangle. We'll pull our stuff together a lot more easily and be a little bit tighter, which will be nice. We'll do some covers. Glasser, as I can tell, will be amazing. So that'll be fun.

Getting to Relayted, were there certain people that you wanted on the album?

Yeah. Some of those folks that I hadn't recorded with that I wanted to, and a lot of those people that I had recorded with who I knew they would have a great time doing these things. That's basically how it went down.

Did anyone approach you that you hadn't thought about?

Blue Water White Death, "Song for the Greater Jihad"

If you've been a RFC reader for any length of time—or, let's be honest, just this past week—you know how we feel about Okkervil River and Shearwater. So when we learned that Shearwater's Jamie Meiburg had begun a collaboration with Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart... Well, let's just say we were a little excited. The first, self-titled release from Meiburg's and Stewart's project Blue Water White Death is due out October 12, and all indications point toward a perfect union of Shearwater's spacious grace and Xiu Xiu's forward-thinking experimentalism.

Blue Water White Death - Song For The Greater Jihad

 

If “Song for the Greater Jihad” is any indication, then man, you guys, this record is going to be mind-blowing. From the first second, “Greater Jihad” fills the listener with a sense of vast, open space. The twinkling guitar echoes with claustrophobic tension, the kind that comes in a huge, dark room—there is something massive lurking just beneath the surface. Loud, jarring plucks on a cello or bass string resonate like the underwater sighs of a sunken ship, preventing the beautiful piece from ever becoming soothing. It’s telling that both the band and the debut record are named for a 1971 documentary about a foolhardy search for the Great White shark in Australia’s Dangerous Reef. This is music both intelligent and transporting—art-rock at its finest.

 

Tim Kasher? In My Reckless Records?

There are a few musicians that, to quote Ben Gibbard, I would follow into the dark. They're the type of musicians I've listened to for years, since adolesence, and ones that I still hold dear today. (Note: Ben Gibbard is not one of these musicians.) Of all the heroes of my teens, most have disbanded, perished, or don't get the attention they deserve anymore. Tim Kasher, of the Good Life and Cursive, however, is not one of those musicians. Like David Bazan before him, Kasher has continued to produce albums that range from decent to great and my adoration for him has never once waned.

I have many anecdotes and stories about the way music permeates every aspect of my life and many of these anecdotes involve Cursive. I recently became pretty enamored with a fella and my good pal John decided to put his own spin on the "He breaks your heart, I break his legs" warning by putting that phrase into words I'd understand: "He'd better not go Domestica on you unless he wants to know The Good Life."

Now, Kasher's about to release his first solo album, The Game of Monogamy, which is a bit more polished and pristine than his Good Life and Cursive output, and while I'm reserving judgement on the new sound of Kasher, I'm pretty taken with the b-side to free single "Cold Love", "Just Don't Get Caught".

Tim Kasher - Just Don't Get Caught

To make things better? Kasher's playing an in-store at Reckless Records on the 28th! Be still my beating heart! As someone who's seen Kasher on more than a few occasions, I can tell you with the utmost of confidence that you don't want to miss this!

 

RFC Reviews: Maximum Balloon - Maximum Balloon

Aging musicians releasing collaborative solo albums fronted by an all-star lineup of vocalists is a real marketable tool right now. Big name guitarists such as Slash and Carlos Santana are cashing in on pushing mediocre lifestyle music on their devoted fans who listen with the pretense, "Hey, I like (add dull MOR artist name here) and I like 70's classic rock/80's hair metal! This song must be good!" Millions of units sold and multiple Grammy wins later, mainstream opinion becomes the truth obscuring what the product really is: an glossy, over-constructed collection of songs with no common thread beyond the one money driven focal point whose name graces the album cover. With the album release from Dave Sitek's (of TV On The Radio's fame) Maximum Balloon on a major label, it brings notice to some strange parallels to the star-studded collaborative/big money product push. The overarching debate is this: Is Maximum Balloon a well-orchestrated, cohesive effort or merely a pedantic collection of tracks with a couple gems found amidst the rubble?

Maximum Balloon has some large shoes to fill with Sitek as a main creative force in musicianship and production behind TV On The Radio. The comparison if unfair is definitely inevitable. One thing is obvious from the kickoff: this is no TVOTR project. "Groove Me", featuring vocals from Theophilus London, is a sexy pop hit in the making featuring funky keys and Prince-like guitar jabs that juxtapose the industrial hum and roll under the London's assured voice. The nearest tracks to his Sitek's early efforts are by no surprise the tracks fronted by TVOTR frontmen Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone. Adebimpe's track "Absence of Light" has that slinky buzz meshing with Adebimpe's hefty voice that raises the hair on your neck while the beat punches you in the gut, making it the album's standout track. Malone's offering "Shakedown" is soulful and smooth, reaching beyond the doo-wop style carried by horns and chimes, sounding like a Curtis Mayfield jam brought back to life 500 years in the future. Oh, and that is a good thing.

Maximum Balloon - Groove Me

New J. Tillman? Sign me up!

I have a theory abot the Tillmans. My theory is that whenever they leave the house, girls swoon. Maybe girls even faint. I mean, I would. But maybe that's just me.

For those not familiar with the Tillmans, Zach is the man behind Pearly Gate Music, a band R.F.C. is no stranger to fawning over, and the older brother, J. Tillman is the dude drumming up a folky storm behind Robin Pecknold and the other Fleet Foxes. He's also the man behind a pretty prolific solo career that includes 6 full length LP's.

It seems to me that everything involving a Tillman turns to pure gold so to say I have pretty high hopes for J. Tillman's 7th disc is an accurate statement. Singing Ax comes out in February and if new tracks  "Three Sisters" and "Diamondback" are any indication, it'll be nothing less than perfectly in step with the stellar folk Tillman has produced before.

J. Tillman - Three Sisters

Cool hometown fun fact? Singing Ax was recorded at Electrical Audio by Steve Albini!

 

Sea Wolf Is Awesome, Brings Said Awesomeness To Lincoln Hall

Sea Wolf's an interesting character. Even though Alex Brown Church began performing under the moniker only a few years ago (around L.A. as a solo act before getting signed to Dangerbird records), Sea Wolf has never seemed like an emerging artist. In fact, despite a mere 2 LP's under his belt, it feels like Church has been an indie music staple for decades, making straight up "intellectual indie", chock full of literary references and mythical lyrics that solidify Church as every "thinking indie chick"'s crush.

It's always hard to remember that Sea Wolf hasn't been around since my youth. Something about his albums feels like "timeless indie", the type of stuff I listened to in my early teens right along side Pavement and Built To Spill. I feel like last year's solid White Water, White Bloom has been out since my college days and "Middle Distance Runner"? Surely, I've been listening to that since a teen, right?

We wrote a few months back abot how excited we were that Church was coming to Chicago again and how this time, he'd be all by his lonesome, performing solo and acoustic. That excitement? It hasn't been deterred by time at all. In fact, if anything, we've got a ferverent excitement about the set and are already picking out what songs we want to hear Church play. Mood altering favorite "I Made A Resolution" is all but garaunteed with it's shout out to Chicago in the springtime and we're hoping for some reworkings of Church's noisier tracks like "Dew In The Grass" and "Song For The Dead".

Sea Wolf - Turn The Dirt Over

Sea Wolf hits Lincoln Hall on the 26th at 8 p.m. with Sera Cahoone and Patrick Park. Tickets are $14 and last time in Chicago, Church, with Sara Lov and Port O'Brien, packed Schuba's to the gills so be sure to get your tickets stat!

 

FYI - If you google "Sea Wolf", this gem comes up.

Justin Townes Earle? More Like Justin Time To Go To The Townes' Prison!

Many of us have come to know and love Justin Townes Earle’s unique brand of folk/country music. His most recent release, Harlem River Blues, is one that offers something for just about everyone. From the old time gospel sound of the title track to the almost Elvis-like quality of “Move Over Mama”, Justin Townes Earl provides his listeners with a variety of different sounds for almost any occasion.

 Despite the seemingly upbeat nature of his music, it has become increasingly apparent that Justin Townes Earle has more going on in his life than listeners might initially expect. Although it is well known that JTE has battled this addiction for several years, his recent arrest at his September 16th show at club Radio Radio in Indianapolis gives fans of his music some insight into what could prove to be an enormous detriment to the musician’s career.

Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues

On September 16th, excited fans of Justin Townes Earle crowded into the sold out event at Indianapolis based venue Radio Radio expecting to enjoy a night full of music, friends, and general fun. However,according to My Old Kentucky Blog, that is not exactly the experience that patrons received. JTE arrived at Radio Radio that night having already been drinking and it only went downhill from there. He is said to have been complaining about the sound quality during sound check; however, most of the problems began once he took the stage. After some unpleasant banter with members of the audience, Justin Townes Earle walked off the stage only to go wreak havoc on both the venue itself and the venue owner. As a result, JTE was physically removed from Radio Radio. Once the police arrived, the inebriated musician resisted arrest and was then pinned to the ground, handcuffed, and removed from the premises.

According to a statement given by JTE in regards to the accusations against him, “reports surfacing online about the incident in Indianapolis are not accurate.” He goes on to mention that he is not to comment on any “pending criminal matter” but that he “[looks] forward to his day in court”. However, those in attendance at the unsatisfactory show may not exactly agree with this statement.

 Although it does not seem likely that his arrest will completely devastate Justin Townes Earle’s career, it would suffice to say that there will be at least slight damage. Based on his actions toward Radio Radio and its staff, it is highly probable that JTE will not be asked to play the venue anytime soon, if ever again. It could also be possible that Justin Townes Earle has little to no desire to play the venue again, but that’s mostly just personal opinion. Fans of JTE who attended the inadequate show that particular evening may or may not decide against spending their time and money to bother with another show; however, it seems far more likely that Justin Townes Earl will be given another chance.

This previously mentioned “second chance” might have come in the form of a performance only a few nights later at Chicago’s own Lincoln Hall. Here, Justin Townes Earle made up for a substandard performance in Indianapolis by performing remarkably well and being on his best behavior.

So the question remains: Will this arrest be detrimental to Justin Townes Earle’s career as a musician? Not likely. After the fiasco in Indianapolis, JTE made the decision to temporarily suspend his remaining tour dates and enter a rehabilitation center. According to his website, “[he] is strongly committed to confronting his on-going struggle with addiction.” So although fans may not hear much from the singer for a little while, the entire situation will most definitely prove beneficial to both Justin Townes Earle’s music career as well as his own physical health.

Editor's note: I fully stand by Daytrotter's recent tweet: "Don't care what nobody says: Justin Townes Earle is a damn good man." I also endorse ya'll listening to his latest Daytrotter session and supporting him by buying tickets to see him when he hits the road again later this year.

Suckers Join Menomena To Rock The Metro

If you haven't heard buzz about Suckers or Menomena, you haven't been listening to anything over the past year. Seriously! Not sure if you've heard Suckers? You might be deaf! Haven't caught wind of the fuss surrounding Menomena's latest album, Mines? You probably live under a rock!

Whether you've heard of the bands or not, now is the time to jump on the chance to have an indie rock out-of-body experience by heading over to the Metro and ponying up $16 for what just might be the best bill of the year. Seriously! It's gonna be good! And while we totally condone going to the Hideout for Mondo Drag, we can't hold it against you if you get suckered in at the Metro instead. (Get it? Suckered in? Because of Suckers? Get it?!)

Suckers - Black Sheep

 

Menomena - Queen Black Acid

Note: If you download one song by an Amber approved band, please make it Menomena's "Queen Black Acid" as it's quickly becoming my life anthem and I wish for you all to love it as much as I do.

 

People Covering Songs I Love Featuring Neutral Milk Hotel, Part One

There are few bands as beloved to me as Neutral Milk Hotel. In fact, I think only Elliott Smith surpasses my love for the Jeff Mangum fronted band and that's saying quite a lot because dang, I sure do love Elliott Smith.

I discovered Neutral Milk Hotel by pure luck. I frequented a record store down the street from my Detroit home, using my lunch money to buy albums instead of sustenance, and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was recommended to me shortly after it's release. I was 12. It was a revelatory moment in my life. From the iconic title track to the "Holy shit!" exclamation at the end of "Oh, Comely", I knew at the time that everything was changing for me, that I'd just stumbled upon something that was going to be very important in my musical existence.

It's sort of criminal now to be an "indie kid" and not worship at the elusive feet of Mangum which warms my heart to no end. Aeroplane was a record that impacted my life so intensely and to know that other people feel the same about it makes me happy. When you meet other people who love Neutral Milk Hotel, you feel an instant connection with them, as if you're both in on a secret that's glorious and wonderful and sharing that connection with someone, even if it's just for one conversation, even if it's just in passing, is a pretty cool thing.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Since Neutral Milk Hotel is so beloved these days, it's no shock that indie musicians far and wide are covering the band. I've always wanted to compile a mix of Aeroplane, covered track for track, but sadly, covers of songs like "Ghost" and "Communist Daughter" are tricky to come by.

What's not hard to come by, however, is various renditions of title track "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea". A quick search on youtube will not only expose you to hundreds of "kids with a macbook and a guitar" covers of the tune but also more than a few legit artist's take on the seminal classic.

The sugar voiced siblings in Eisley covered "Aeroplane" a few years back on a British radio show  and the recording's made the rounds on the internet since then. There's few things the Dupree sisters sweet harmonies aren't suited for and Neutral Milk Hotel covers are no exception. Whereas Mangum's voice grated and shocked in the most revelatory of ways, Sherri and Stacy Dupree, who trade on vocal duty here, seduce you in the least sexual way possible. I mean, let's face it, girls as cute as the Eisley brigade are adorable, they're gorgeous, they're beautiful, but I just can't see them as sexy. It makes me feel like a total molester thinking sexy thoughts about the Eisley gals (Except for maybe that Chauntelle... A-WINK!). Part of that might be due to the fact that I'm a straight female but regardless, the point at hand is the fact that Eisley are seductive, yet not sexy. That's not a bad thing! The fact is that their voices are sort of like hot cider with a shot of whiskey in it. It's saccharine and wonderful and envelops you with it's warmth and then, oh! It has a little kick too that keeps the warmth in you for just a while longer!

Their cover of "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" is no exception. The Dupree siblings sweeten up the original without making the song into an overly-charming mess, adding a few particularly lovely "Oohs" here and there. Never does Eisley's version of "Aeroplane" sound more beautiful, however, then during the bridge. It's no secret that I love evocative music and hearing Stacy's syrupy voice sing the words I've come to adore so much during my adolescence and (now) adulthood reminds me of all the times I listened to Mangum's original version of this song, so many times over so many years. And memories like that are one of the most beautiful things about music.

Eisley - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Even though Eisley's cover of "Aeroplane" is superb, I have to say that out of every version I've ever heard (excluding the original), Fanfarlo's version takes the top notch in my heart. I know why that is. It's all because of Simon Balthazar's voice. Sure, the music's lovely but Balthazar has been melting my heart into a gooey pile of blood and viscera with his crooning since stumbling across Fanfarlo some time back. Balthazar's vocals remind me of those of Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg in the sense that those voices are the best instruments in both bands. Just like Eisley's version of the song, Fanfarlo's version of the track makes me think of that time I was driving my college crush, my best friend at the time, home and "Aeroplane" came on my iPod's shuffle. I asked him if he'd heard it, getting the same manic excitement I get whenever Neutral Milk Hotel is brought up. He hadn't. I pulled the car over on the side of the dirt road near his rural home and we sat there, watching the sun set in our autumn jackets, listening to Mangum sing about how strange it is to be anything at all.

The boy didn't like me, of course, as is usually the case with boys with whom I'm good pals (a.k.a. "one of the guys" - Curse you, friend zone, for cock blocking me many-a-time!). In fact, we never so much as kissed. I was hung up on the fella for years afterwards but sometime three or four years back, I finally gave up the ghost. I didn't need to hang on to unrequited love any more but I'll always have Neutral Milk Hotel and their loyal worshippers to remind me of that feeling of fresh faced optimism and the kind of passion that makes you pull over an unheated car in the dregs of Michigan's chilly fall because a song is just that good.

Fanfarlo - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

   

Mondo Drag Rocks and Now You Can Too!

A weekend in Chicago is not without an onslaught of things to do and these "things to do" get tossed into hyperdrive every fall when every touring band ever hits the road and make their way to the Windy City. It's only natural that today, you'll be thinking "Goodness, what exactly am I going to do with myself this weekend? Should I go to Schubas for Matt Hires and Camera Can't Lie? The wonderful Lincoln Hall for El Ten Eleven, Dosh, and Baths? Or maybe I should head over to the Metro for their very tempting bill of Menomena and Suckers." Well, take our advice, go to see Menomena and Suckers. And skip out hella early and amble down to The Hideout for some good, old fashioned, soul searing rock and roll courtsey of our good pals in Mondo Drag. Why, you ask? Well, I had the chance to play I Spy Johnnie up in Detroit at PJ's Lager House, the best divey bar in the mitten, and I had one of the best times I've experienced in quite a while.

The funny thing about rock concerts is that, for being a rock writer, I go to alarmingly few of them. Indie? Weekly. Pop? Sometimes. Folk? Often. But the seductive, gritty, psychadelic rock and roll that Mondo Drag energetically pumps out without fail goes by the way side. Maybe I just saw too many shitty local rock shows in garages in my heydey and subconciously decided to avoid real live rock and roll. Thankfully, Mondo Drag is here to say "Hey, Amber! Don't be silly! This ain't your high school boyfriend's rock band! This is a whole new breed of awesome and guess what? We even have a light up drum kit!" Well, it appears that Johnnie Cluney, Mondo Drag's drummer and vocalist, knew my weakness for all things awesome when he set up that drum kit becuase before the band even started, I was all on board. Good thing the guys made good on the offer of damn good music as well because, well, a light up drum kit is nothing without the power of rock behind it. Believe it, though: Mondo Drag rocks. And now you can too!

Mondo Drag - Fade Out (Into Space)

The band hits The Hideout on the 25th with the Mediums and Moonrises at 9 p.m. for those of legal age and to top it off, Mondo Drag is only 7 - Count 'em, 7! - bones. How's that for convincin' you?

Tristen Comes Back To Chicago

Tomorrow night, Chicago native Tristen hits Schuba's, bringing her charming, subdued indie pop with her.

While Tristen's new album doesn't come out until February 1st of next year but you can get a taste of what she'll be offering come 2011 with her new 7" single for "Eager For Your Love".

Need to know why Tristen is worth your time this weekend?

Tristen - Eager For Your Love

  
Tristen will be supporting Sad Brad Smith and Villagers on the 24th. A solid bill like that for $12? Sounds like a steal!

Will Sheff Debuts New Okkervil River Songs, Girls Everywhere Swoon

Okkervil River holds a very special place in my heart. From the moment I heard Black Sheep Boy, Okkevil River's 2004 record that is nothing if not a total masterpiece, I knew I'd stumbled upon a band that was going to be a very integral part of my adult life. Few artists get to me like Okkervil River and it's my professional goal in life to interview everyone involved with the band, from trumpeter Scott Brackett (Also frontman of Brackett and Company) to former Okkervil River member and current Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg to lead singer Will Sheff himself (Despite the fact that I can't maintain composure in his presence. Let me tell you about when I met Sheff sometime. It's a thoroughly embarassing story.).

When I say I love Okkervil River, I mean I love Okkervil River in a very serious way. In fact, I'm so nuts for the band that my good friend Rachel once told me that the reason I couldn't have a successful relationship was becuase none of the guys I was dating loved Okkervil River as much as I do. Scoff if you like but a love of Okkervil River is a must if you're going to hang around me, a girl who will be found for the rest of her month clad in her Okkervil River hoodie (Hey! It's an autumn staple!) and sleeping under her Stage Names and Stand Ins posters.

So when Will Sheff debuted some new songs in New York, you best believe I was all about that. Sheff was opening for Bird of Youth, who's lead singer he's been seeing for quite some time, during their residency at The Living Room and I was a little heartbroken not to be there. Every time Sheff does a solo show, it sends pangs of wanting through my heart because let's face it, Sheff will never grace Chicago with a solo show. He saves that shit for his hometowns of Austin and Brooklyn. Of course, in the age of youtube, you don't have to be somewhere to be there, as made evident with that sweet National concert from a few months back.

It wasn't long after the shows that a few videos of Sheff performing new material popped up on the web. The first, "Lay of the Last Survivor", made quite the splash over at Stereogum and on blogs galore. "Walked Out On A Line", however, has gone pretty unnoticed. Naturally, I think that's a shame but let's face it: I'm biased. Don't trust my opinion when it comes to Okkervil River. I'm so pathetic for the band that it makes me highly subjective and therefore not to be trusted. Everything Sheff does is a masterpiece to varying degrees and "Lay of the Last Survivor" and "Walked Out On A Line" are no different.

Will Sheff - Lay of the Last Survivor @ the Living Room

Let's face it: It's been too long since we've got an album from these guys.

 

Margot & the Nuclear So & So's Show Review + Buzzard out TODAY!

There is something remarkable and impressive about a band that can constantly strive to make new and better music, to evolve its sound, and at the same time retain a host of loyal fans while generating new ones. Hat's off to the remarkable Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. After making major changes within the band, Richard Edwards and his now 6-piece set out to give us Buzzard, a new album out today. While I loved the bells and whistles of older Margot days, I personally prefer this new, whittled down sound. We get to enjoy clean, focused rock sounds combined with honest and relatable lyrics. The result is a hugely enjoyable band, one that you wont have to convince anyone to love. Margot makes it easy. "Claws Off" and "Will You Love Me Forever" are personal favorites, while "Birds" is clearly a standout, but explore for yourself.

Sunday night, Lincoln Hall hosted the band for an early-ish all ages set that satisfied new and old fans alike. Mixing in favorites like "Talking in Code" with a healthy dose of new Buzzard works, everyone left happy and impressed. I've noticed lately in my live show circuit that not every band can muster the stage presence and ability to entertain that others can. I'm not sure if Margot and the Nuclear So and So's are very practiced or very gifted (both?), but they give a show worth watching. It was refreshing to see a band who clearly enjoys what they do but also genuinely cares that their audience is having just as good a time. The band is on a marathon tour as we speak, so check here for tour dates and don't miss out.

Margo and the Nuclear So and So's - New You City Hotel Blues