Show review: Courtney Barnett at the Empty Bottle, 2/18/14

By Sarah Rosenfeld

Up and comer Aussie singer/songwriter and guitarist Courtney Barnett kicked off her short US tour Tuesday night with a sold out show at the Empty Bottle. Proving that she's worthy of the hype that has been building around her since the release of her double EP A Sea of Split Peas, Courtney Barnett brought her special brand of deadpan toned witticisms and breezy psych pop guitar riffs reminiscent of '60s era California to warm up a chilly Chicago evening. It was a late night, with Courtney playing after two openers including Chicago's own excessively talented post-punk psychedelic garage rockers Radar Eyes. Taking the stage around 11:45 p.m. and immediately launching into her song "David," Courtney strummed on her left-handed Fender sans pick, while nonchalantly singing "I don’t really like any of your friends, but it’s not that hard for me to pretend" as the crowd swayed along. The 40 minute set was solid and felt like plenty of material even though she only has the one double-EP.  

Courtney Barnett delivers pointed lyrics like "Do you know you’re no good at listening? But you’re really good at saying everything on your mind," with such a monotone ennui that you start to laugh a little and then say "...oh. Wait." Transitioning between her slower ambling songs and the more feedback heavy garage rock tunes was effortless for her and the band and the entire set was a pleasure to experience. There were a lot of people there singing along, especially with her most well known single "Avant Gardener" which brought an audible cheer from the crowd when she started strumming the first few hazy chords. Courtney and her band didn't bring too much stage banter although she did comment in her adorably heavy Australian accent "I can go home and tell my mum that someone threw a book onstage. That's a first." Looks like 2014 is going to be full of firsts for her including playing Coachella and various other summer festivals. If you missed this sold out show, Courtney Barnett is definitely worth catching if you can, so keep an eye on those festival announcements and be sure to get your tickets ahead of time for the next show. The buzz is legitimate with this one.

Windy City Rock Presents: a benefit for Intuit, the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

By Gene Wagendorf III

Regular readers of Windy City Rock will know that we love the strange, the weird, the out there, and the confrontational. Luckily for us, Chicago is home to an incredible experimental music scene that thrives both in traditional venues and in various basements, warehouses and gallery spaces. These bands are outsiders in the sense that their music sheds convention and predictability, defying genres and constantly crafting some of the most fascinating tunes in existence. 

Chicago also happens to be home to Intuit, an incredible organization devoted to self-taught and outsider art. The Center presents "self-taught and outsider art with world class exhibitions; resources for scholars and students; a permanent collection with holdings of more than 1,100 works of art... and educational programming for people of all interest levels and backgrounds." They're a unique group that does something we at WCR believe in firmly. Their focus and aesthetic is in-line with that of many of the experimental musicians we love, and they continue to operate thanks to the generosity of both donors and their members. In a unique twist, Intuit currently occupies a space that legendary and influential avant-gospel group ONO played thirty years ago, in July of 1983. 

It is with this in mind that we're happy to partner again with Chicago's best rock club, The Empty Bottle, in hosting a benefit show for our friends at Intuit. This charity concert will take place on Sunday, December 8th (7pm, 21+, $8), with proceeds going directly to Intuit. We've put together an amazing lineup featuring some of the city's best experimental musicians, and we'd love for you to join us for a mind-expanding, ear-shattering good time.

Windy City Rock Presents: an Intuit Benefit Show

Sunday, December 8th
7pm, $8 donation 

Crown Larks

Official Website  Facebook  Bandcamp

 

Mako Sica

Official Website  Facebook  Bandcamp

DJPTSD [members of ONO]

Official Website  Facebook  SoundCloud

The Humminbird

Official Website  Bandcamp

The bands have generously offered to donate their sets, and The Bottle is joining them by donating the door. With that in mind, we ask you join us, buy some records/tapes, have a few drinks and jam out for a good cause. 

Tickets are on sale at The Empty Bottle's website, and you can join the action on Facebook here.

If you enjoyed this, like us on Facebook and follow Gene on Twitter. 

Show review: GOAT at Empty Bottle, 5/2

By Gene Wagendorf III   

GOAT | Photo Credit: Gene Wagendorf III

There's an astonishing amount of mystery that surrounds GOAT, a collective of psychedelic voodoo rockers from Korpilombolo, Sweden. The town is said to still bear the curse of the followers of a traveling witch doctor, most of whom were driven out upon being discovered by Christian crusaders. That dark magic, combined with the centuries-long influence of voodoo culture in Korpilombolo, has allegedly shaped the music GOAT plays now. It's trance-like, made up of relentless rhythms embellished with wild bouts of improvisation. Passed down from generation to generation, the music is said to have been performed by various "versions" of GOAT, with only this recent incarnation finally laying down some wax. World Music, the band's aptly-titled debut record, was released by Rocket Recordings to much critical acclaim. There are plenty of questions and ambiguity still surrounding the band and its origins- an impressive accomplishment on its own in a post-Google world. GOAT is currently in the midst of their first American tour, and were in town Thursday for a sold out show at The Empty Bottle.

GOAT | Photo Credit: Gene Wagendorf III

Clad in a hodgepodge of hoods, masks and tunics, three members of GOAT approached the stage in bizarrely unassuming fashion, patiently tuning their instruments as the energy in the crowd began to swell. A softly plucked string or two gave way to a lithe snippet of melody, and then a little more, as the two guitar players and the bassist coyly tested the waters.Within moments a drummer and a conga player emerged, allowing "Diarabi," the lead track from World Music, to take off. Smoky, Middle-Eastern leads danced over crunchy riffing and almost whispered jazz percussion. By the time GOAT's two female vocalists/percussionists had snaked through the crowd to the stage, the party was on. Trying to nail down a genre for GOAT became an instantly comic exercise in futility by song two, when the band leaned into "Golden Dawn." Riding Afro-beat rhythms and humming bass, the guitar players went manic on psych solos and chicken scratch riffs reminiscent of of Jimmy Nolen's sexiest work for James Brown.

Show review: Jamaican Queens at The Empty Bottle, 3/23

By Gene Wagendorf III

Jamaican Queens

My first run-in with Jamaican Queens was last July at The Empty Bottle, when the band were in town opening up for Janka Nabay. As much as I was excited to see the Sierra Leonean "King of Bubu," the lasting memory of that night was this odd-ball trio from Detroit. The group seemed like more of an idea than a finished product at that show, but the foundation for something captivating was more than present. A little less than a year later Jamaican Queens have released their debut record, Wormfood, and I can't stop listening. 

I mean it. I. Can't. Stop.

Jamaican Queens took the stage at The Bottle again Saturday night, armed with the twisted harmonies, toxic beats and unpredictable whimsy that make Wormfood so remarkable. The band kicked the show off by conjuring up the schizophrenic tune "Annie," slapping the crowd with its unsettling urgency and tumbling momentum before settling into a morphine-sweet chorus. The rest of the set was marked by what has become Jamaican Queens' calling card- a mix of hip-hop energy and dreamy wordplay alongside psychedelic drifting and electronic angst. The songs are calmly bitter, disconnected and yet earnest, romanticized dreams sizzling with loss and disappointment. The world in which the trio operates has been abandoned by convention, and strange things are growing wild. The characters that JQ populates this landscape with are hopeless, numbed by violence and failed relationships.

Show review: MMOSS, Jacco Gardner at the Empty Bottle, 3/19/13

By Andrew Hertzberg

Jacco Gardner

Trouble in Mind is a record label you should know by now. Based in Chicago, they offer a variety of acts that can mostly be classified as garage or psych-rock, but generally should never be pigeon-holed so dismissively. Two such bands played at the Empty Bottle Tuesday night.

First up was five-piece MMOSS, whose set only expanded upon its own energy, growing with intensity towards a climactic (and noisy) conclusion. Though the band hails from New Hampshire via Boston, they could fit well with many in the Chicago scene. The driving basslines and Krautrock-inspired structure are reminiscent of Cave, the pure aural assault of Verma, and the farfisa organ stands out like Libby Ramer in Moonrises. Only Children was a late release from last year, but certainly deserving of attention, if only for "Spoiled Sun" and the epic "Wander.

Although toned down several notches, I found Jacco Gardner the most impressive act of the night. His debut album Cabinet of Curiosities is quickly becoming one of my favorites of the year. While Gardner plays everything except drums on the album, he mostly helmed the keys for the show, backed by an acoustic guitar, bassist, and drummer live. Many are quick to compare his baroque style pop to Syd Barrett and the Zombies, Pet Sounds and Sgt. Peppers. And those influences are certainly there. But throughout the set I found myself hearing elements of Jon Brion, the Beta Band, Todd Rundgren circa A Wizard/A True Star, even Ratatat and Air. His music is whimsical without being nostalgic, despite the throwback sound. While it’s easy to get lost in how effortless Gardner provokes a feeling, you can also try to pick out where he’ll go next with his chord progressions and have no idea how he transitions between major and minor keys so smoothly.

There was one slight hiccup at the beginning of the set with a cable being unplugged. But the 24-year old kept his cool, solved the issue, and carried on with a fantastic set, culminating in lead single "The Ballad of Little Jane" and "Where Will You Go" to close it out. Despite complaining of a sore throat (which made itself entirely unknown in his performance), he accepted the crowds cheers for a legitimate encore and shouts of “Chicago loves you!” In the review of Cabinet of Curiosities on Pitchfork, the reviewer claimed that Gardner is “a studio wizard.” While true to a point, he proved last night that he is just as capable of a musician on the stage as well.

WCR and The Empty Bottle Present: A Rock For Kids Charity Jam

By Gene Wagendorf III  

Where does the music you love come from?

It's a simple question, with an equally simple and completely obvious answer: It comes from musicians.

Chicago's music scene is experiencing a creative swell unlike almost any time in its history; there are new, incredible bands being born seemingly every day. Whether you're into punk, art-rock, garage-pop, folk or just anything that sounds great in a sweaty basement, this city has dozens of killer bands to meet your taste. But even a scene that's flourishing the way Chicago's is can't sustain itself without new ideas and new creators to give those ideas life. That's where Rock For Kids comes in.

Rock For Kids is an inspiring and wholly necessary local non-profit that provides music education to underserved youth. Quite literally, they're putting guitars and drum sticks in the hands of children who might not otherwise get a hold of them. They're teaching critical thinking and musical theory. They're offering kids an outlet for their creativity, and, lucky for you, laying the foundation for the next generation of Chicago bands that you'll be rocking out to. As important as it is to support already existing bands by seeing shows and buying records, it's equally important to invest in the scene's future.

On that note, Windy City Rock is beyond proud to join Chicago's best rock club, The Empty Bottle, in hosting A Rock For Kids Charity Jam. The benefit show will take place on Sunday, November 25th (6pm, 21+), and proceeds from the show will go directly to R4K. We're asking for a $15 donation at the door, but we also understand that times are tough, and have provided smaller donation options that will still allow you the help out and enjoy a night of fantastic local music.

That music will be provided by 7 bands who, in this writer's opinion, are some of the best acts making music in Chicago. The lineup is as follows.

Windy City Rock and The Empty Bottle Present: A Rock 4 Kids Charity Jam
Sunday, November 25th
6pm, $15 donation

Rambos
Official Website Facebook Bandcamp
Panda Riot
Official Website Facebook Bandcamp
We Repel Each Other
Facebook Bandcamp
The Hecks
Facebook Soundcloud
Massive Ego
Facebook Bandcamp
Shiloh
Facebook Bandcamp
Tiny Fireflies
Official Website Facebook Bandcamp

and special guest DJ Miss Alex White 

The bands have generously offered to donate their sets, and The Bottle is joining them by donating the door. With that in mind, we ask you join us, buy some records, have a few drinks and jam out for a good cause. 

Tickets are on sale at The Empty Bottle's website, and you can join the action on Facebook here.

If you enjoyed this, like us on Facebook and follow Gene on Twitter. 

Interview: TOPS

By Gene Wagendorf III   

TOPS

Windy City Rock caught up with Montreal's twinkling soft-rock outfit TOPS, who strolled into Chicago this week for two shows- last night at The Empty Bottle and tonight (Thursday) at The Burlington. Touring in support of their debut release Tender Opposites (Arbutus Records), the band excels at crafting tight, kinetic pop songs and spacious, fragile ballads. While it's easy to draw comparisons between TOPS and current/former label-mates Grimes and BRAIDS, the truth lies somewhere in between. Absent is the heavy gloss of the former, and the obtuse structures of the latter. The result is an easily digestible album riddled with catchy melodies and smart songwriting. The band's personality seems to share that dichotomy; a charming combination of whimsy and thoughtful perspective. You can catch TOPS at The Burlington on Thursday, September 27th ($7, 21+). In the meantime, enjoy our chat with Jane Perry [vocals/keyboards] and Riley Fleck [drums].

WCR: To start, where did you all meet? How long have you been playing together?

JANE: We all came to Montreal a few years ago, David [guitar] and I both came from Edmonton and knew each other from before, everyone else met hanging out and going to shows.  We had been playing music with Thom [bass] for a couple years, he used to play drums with us and he wanted to play bass instead, so we asked Riley to jam with us at La Brique to see if it would work out. We got together and played some songs that David and I had started. It was really easy right from the start to finish songs and play together, so we decided to make a band out of it. That was a year and a half ago.

WCR: What role has living in Montreal had in shaping your sound, if any?

JANE: We all came to Montreal to make music and meet other people that make music. Montreal is great because people don’t have a lot of money and don’t aspire to. There’s a lot of creative people, and a lot of opportunities to dance and get fucked up.

Show review: Shonen Knife, White Mystery, Rambos at The Empty Bottle, 8/2

By Gene Wagendorf III

Rambos

When I first saw that Shonen Knife and White Mystery were playing a show together at The Bottle, I thought, "aw, fuck, that's the day before Lolla." Much as I dig both bands, I wasn't keen on the idea of being out late before kicking off three days of loud music and nasty heat. Then Rambos were added to the bill, and I thought, "aw, fuck, I'm going to be hungover for Lolla."

The local garage rockers opened their set with "Terrorize," the lead track from this year's Rock and Roll Monsters and the ideal song to play during any imp prison break. I imagine such a thing being a playful rampage, which seems fitting for Rambos as well. During "Human Monster" singer/bassist Jeremy David Miller delivered his somewhat slapstick lines with an eerie conviction that suggested something vile, hairy and howling was on the loose. He was right, though the culprit wasn't a werewolf, it was the grizzly guitar of Ryan Anderson. Playing without French songstress Julie Meckler, the band did a fine job of carrying on; her absence only really glaring on "Vampire," which found Anderson filling in on the harmonies. Not a bad job, but not quite the chemistry and haunting dissonance that exists between Meckler and Miller. Rambos compensated by cutting a little looser in her absence, really digging in to the manic, jammier parts of songs like "Hiyawatha."

Show review: Janka Nabay & The Bubu Gang, Natural Information Society, Jamaican Queens at The Empty Bottle, 7/30

By Gene Wagendorf III

Janka Nabay and Boshra Al-Saadi

When you call yourself the "king" of anything, you'd better have the chops to back it up. Janka Nabay, the Sierra Leonean leader of The Bubu Gang, did just that at The Empty Bottle on Monday night.

When I spoke to the singer last week he confessed, "I love to see people dance. Not just to my music, but to any music, because dancing is like medicine. It keeps you fit. That's why we do this." The Bubu Gang wasted no time in inspiring their audience to move, beginning their set with a tropical jam featuring rolling bass lines and springy percussion. Nabay traded vocal flutters with Syrian chanteuse Boshra Al-Saadi, his wild, stream of consciousness raps bending around her smooth, glistening chants. The vocalists showed an incredible musical chemistry, working their voices through the interstices of the groove being laid out by the rest of The Gang.

Interview: Janka Nabay

By Gene Wagendorf III 

Janka Nabay & The Bubu Gang

Even a city as worldly as Chicago doesn't host royalty every day, but the "Bubu King" himself, Janka Nabay, is bringing his band to the Windy City for a couple of shows that should prove to be unlike anything else you'll see this year. What the hell is bubu? Good question. The Sierra Leonean native made his name by adopting a traditional genre born in ancient witchcraft ceremonies and adding his own flair, as well as some electric instruments. Janka took what was once an airy, minimalist harmony of percussion and crude wind instruments and added synths, guitar, bass and a host of globe-spanning influences.  It's fast, it's catchy, and for something that's centuries old, it sounds pretty damn fresh.

After escaping  a war-torn Sierra Leone, Janka set up shop in the US, releasing a solo EP, Bubu King, before forming Janka Nabay & The Bubu Gang with a collection of Brooklyn musicians. The group's first offering, An Letah, features tight, swirling arrangements and toe-tapping rhythms that defy you to sit still and listen. Not possible. Nabay and co. have just wrapped up their first full-length release, En Yay Sah, due out August 7th. "The King" will be performing at Celebrate Clark St. on Sunday, July 29th ($5 donation) and at The Empty Bottle on Monday, July 30th (FREE). Janka took some time from making people boogie to answer a few questions for WCR.

WCR: They say you're the "King of Bubu." What's bubu? How did people react to you adding electric instruments to it?

What is bubu? Bubu music is a danceable rhythm. Bubu music is the sound of God. The reaction? Fantastic. The people like it because it's unique. And people love to dance.

Show review: Paper Mice, Lovely Little Girls, Unmanned Ship at The Empty Bottle, 7/16

By Gene Wagendorf III

Unmanned Ship

Monday night saw a few veterans of the local DIY scene bring their brand of noisy hijinks out of the basement and into The Empty Bottle. It was loud, it was sweaty and it was free.

The three-piece sonic goon factory that is Unmanned Ship kicked off the night's shenanigans, promptly leveling the growing crowd with their distinct blend of psychedelic swirling and behemoth riffs. Though focused on crafting grisly and challenging soundscapes, the group still managed to sneak some catchy (albeit crusty) hooks into their set. Evocative of Explosions in the Sky insofar as their approach to aural mood building, Unmanned Ship came off like that band's neglected step-brother, the one locked in the basement whenever the parents have company over. Each bent note seemed to have a chip on its shoulder, and each sludgy eruption sustained itself with maniacal gravity. The music was anything but vulnerable, though a softer, brighter collection of sounds late in the set, offered against more restrained and studious percussion, suggested that Unmanned Ship has depth beyond simply wanting to sear their audiences faces off. That said, the tenderness climaxed with a melting, distorted honk that spread thickly over increasingly speedy drumming. The final song shifted from it's militant, somber pacing into a tilt-a-whirl jam, almost playful in its severity. Whereas Explosions in the Sky construct shimmering epics that invite the listener to revel in their beauty, Unmanned Ship's take is far more empowering, confronting the audience with a raw musical sculpture before tearing it back down. Cathartic, to say the least.

Show review: Quintron and Miss Pussycat at Empty Bottle, 5/12

By Andrew Hertzberg

The story of Quintron and Miss Pussycat runs deep. Far deeper than I knew going into the Empty Bottle Saturday night. The NOLA couple formerly called Chicago home – an extensive profile of their history was chronicled in the Reader a decade ago. The two have cultivated a following over the years and are always looking for and creating something bizarre and left-of-center. Quintron blares on his distorted Hammond keyboard with a natural Southern swagger, accompanied by his patented Drum Buddy. Miss Pussycat handles backing vocals, and oh yeah, did I mention she put on a puppet show to begin the set? The story of a grizzly bear that travels through outer space to defeat a vampire is a perilous one, but it must be told.

As for Quintron’s candle-lit set, it was much more energetic and amplified than I imagined after hearing recordings. My ears were ringing before the show was even over. Listening to last year’s Sucre du Sauvage (which was recorded in a 2010 New Orleans Museum of Art exhibit) isn’t by any means a tranquil experience, but Quintron gets intense live. Seated at a keyboard behind the grill of Lincoln, equipped with a crash cymbal and hi-hat, and the aforementioned self-designed drum machine, Quintron belts out his campy, R&B tinged “Swamp-Tech” that wouldn’t be out of place soundtracking a B horror film. Miss Pussycat helped out on vocals, sometimes with high-pitched yelps, sometimes more subdued and melodic, but ever so consistent with the maracas. I couldn’t help but think at times what a great collab this duo could make with the Fiery Furnaces. Can someone set that up please?

Show review: A Place To Bury Strangers, Apteka, The Big Sleep at The Empty Bottle, 3/21

By Gene Wagendorf III
 

APTBS bursting eardrums

Whether it was online or amongst the smokers on Western and Cortez, there was a whole lot of pre-show hubbub about just how loud the night was going to be. A Place To Bury Strangers have a reputation for playing at volumes that melt fingernails and boil ocular fluid. This is, after all, the band that famously sent earplugs out with copies of 2009's Exploding Head. Hell, they were selling official APTBS hi-fi earplugs at the merch table. There's no doubt that Brooklynite openers The Big Sleep were aware of what they'd be followed by, and boy did they try to compensate.

The Big Sleep kicked off their set with blaring, churning guitars and a healthy lump of distortion. The group's muddy, straight-forward rock showed hints of grooves and a cool riff here and there, but their greatest victory came in making sure they simply weren't pegged as the quiet band on the bill. Overcompensating crunch weighed a few numbers down and almost completely obscured the vocals. The most interesting moment of the set came about midway through, when a stumbling, hungover melody shambled over a stuttered drum beat. By this point I'd drifted back towards the bar, and the change up called for me to refocus. Something cool was about to happen. Instead, the melody found the toilet bowl and burst into a garbled sonic vomit. I'm a fan of noise, but as Charles Bukowski said, "if you're going to try, go all the way." The hooks and structure suggested that The Big Sleep might be better as a focused,  high-octane rock band. In the end, they came across like a group that had yet to commit either way.

Show review: Grimes, Born Gold at Empty Bottle, 3/14

By Andrew Hertzberg

There’s been no shortage of Canadian artists making dark electronic pop music. Where Diamond Rings goes for glam and Austra translates heartbreak into addicting melodies, Grimes (née Claire Boucher) makes music simultaneously ethereal and comfortable. The 23-year old Vancouver native is indie’s current ‘it’-girl. So much buzz can often have its backlash, and I was skeptical going into the show, (although I am quite a fan of this year’s Visions). Any doubts I had, though, were quickly scared away. Right off the bat, she asked if there was any way to make everything louder. She had a genuine excitement to be playing the sold out show and it came through in her ability to handle a sampler, a synth, two mics (with effects and loops) and dance the whole time she was up there.

In a recent Pitchfork interview, Boucher cited Aphex Twin, Outkast and Mariah Carey as some of her biggest influences, not to mention her grasp of K-Pop, IDM, and any other sub-genre under the electronic sun. With such a vast array of inspirations, you’d think the music would be a garbled mess of maximalism. And while you can hear the multiple ideas going through Claire’s head at once, she somehow doesn’t let the product sound chaotic. What’s most impressive about her, and the live show certainly affirmed, was her ability to stay in control of the situation. Openers Born Gold joined her on stage as her backing band, but not unlike Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Boucher’s multitasking was front and center of the show. Whether it was on the industrial sounding girl-group romp of "Oblivion" or the Eastern-tinged R&B of "Genesis," Claire was confident, commanding and somehow having too much fun while doing all of the above. The set closed all too soon with the trancey (and aptly named) "Nightmusic," the room filled with sweat but wanting more.

Interview: Slow Animal

By Rachel Angres

The three-piece band Slow Animal originally hail from Franklinville, New Jersey. “It’s the most corrupt state in the nation, but South Jersey is not that bad.” Lead vocalist Alex Kabable says this sarcastically. The trio now reside in Philadelphia, and at a last minute request drove their van to Chicago to play at the Empty Bottle on Wednesday night opening for locals Gypsyblood. Immediately following their set the three were more than happy to sit in the basement of the venue with us, where they discussed everything from their love for Seinfeld and distaste for NYC ("Driving there is in the in the top three of my list of things I hate to do,” Kabable reveals).

Slow Animal book their own shows, release their songs for free to download via Bandcamp, pay out of their pockets to tour around with their friends to colleges, house shows and anywhere willing to give them the opportunity. Their first aid survival kit for touring includes peanut butter, paper towels, pee-bottles and podcasts. This accidental alliteration is symbolic of their friendship, which started when they were punk kids back in middle school. “We’ve been in various bands with a bunch of different people since 9th grade. Dan [Colanduno, drums] and I started this as a fun secret project, and cool stuff started happening. We needed an extra person for shows, so we asked Jason [Milazzo] if he wanted to play live guitar for us,” says Kabable. They aren’t full-time musicians though--they are gainfully employed: Kabable is a pizza delivery driver, Colanduno works at a school and Milazzo works at a fitness center for the elderly.

Kababale admits proudly that Blink 182 was, and still is in a way, his favorite band, “I’m not all acting like my influences were Morrissey and Joy Division; it’s not as if when I was 6-years-old my parents made me listen to Day Dream Nation. I mean, we were born in the '90s," he says. “We get compared to Wavves, Beach Fossils, Best Coast. We never get labeled as anything close to garage rock--we get pegged beach pop…but that was never our goal. I say fuck sub-genres. We just like to play around with new sound…”

Show review: Color Card, Mines, Famous Laughs at Empty Bottle, 1/2

By Anna Holmquist

Color Card

Well, kids, winter is here for good. Every time I stepped outside on Monday, I felt like I had to scream to express the unique pain I felt when a gust of wind hit me. I’ve lived in the Midwest for my entire almost-22 years of existence ((Thursday is my birthday!), but it hasn’t made me any more tolerant of winter weather.

Luckily, I had the Empty Bottle’s first show of 2012, which I attended with my friends JPLF and AA, to warm my soul, or something.

Famous Laughs was the first act of the night. Though Jake Acosta didn’t have any stage presence to speak of – I didn’t realize that the show had started for several minutes – his dreamy electronic space-scapes were the perfect soundtrack to the biting weather.

There is something raw and present about this kind of electro-experimental music that I love. It’s not so much music as it is an experience. Neither the audience nor the performer knows exactly what will come next. Also, he looped his vocals, and I have a weakness for that.

Next up was Mines. The vocalist was feeding his voice through a Fender ’63 Reverb unit and running that through a Twin Reverb reissue, creating a funky voice gimmick that worked… for the first few songs. By the end of the set, the fuzzed-out vocals became grating. Otherwise, though, the upbeat tunes kept my head bobbing. I appreciated the trio's obvious enthusiasm and the communication between band members. They never lost their cool, even when the bassist broke a string,

Color Card brought an Omnichord onstage and I almost lost my shit. I have Nerd Love for Omnichords. They also have a spiffy-looking, bespectacled drummer.

Their experimental, upbeat-but-not-quite-enough-to-dance-to tunes had me standing and swaying and tapping my foot. As with Mines, their vocal style underwhelmed me, but I think practice and variety could smooth that out.

Color Card is playing another free show with Grandeurs this Sunday, January 8, at the Whistler, so be sure to stop by and check them out.

Show review: Austra, Young Galaxy, Tasseomancy at Empty Bottle

By Reagan Healey

Austra

I’m going to get right to it. This show was packed –like, ridiculously packed. Seriously, Empty Bottle, how many fire codes did you break? It was Canadian invasion night on Western Avenue this Monday, with shortlisted 2011 Polaris Music Prize nominees Austra returning to Chicago and the Empty Bottle on the last leg of their US tour with opening acts Young Galaxy and live collaborators Tasseomancy. It was about as cramped as I’ve ever been at that venue, but I’d be lying if I said the capacity crowd wasn’t entirely merited. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’d like to submit that the whole thing was pretty fucking awesome from beginning to end.

If I left it at that, though, I would be leaving a lot out.

I spent some time in my album review of Chicago three-piece Pillars and Tongues’ The Pass and Crossings discussing how acts that blend gothic mysticism and natural imagery with electronic instrumentation seem to have utterly taken the current music scene hostage. If that’s true, then this concert was undeniable evidence that the hostage situation is reaching a breaking point. Tasseomancy, fronted by twin sisters Sari and Romy Lightman, take their name from the practice of divining the future by examining tea leaves and wine dregs. If you can think of a hipper, more mystical name, I’m all ears –I mean c’mon, tea leaves and wine dregs, just wow. Dressed like a Romanian gypsy and an androgynous matador, they kind of resembled the ghosts of Bat For Lashes both Present and Future (respectively).

I’m not saying it was corny. Joined on stage by Austra drummer Maya Postepski, they delivered a perfect juxtaposition of witchy harmony with a tasteful blend of electronic and acoustic instrumentation. Of course, they also dedicated the show to a gay rooster named Henry. They elaborated more on that, but it was difficult to make out through their ghostly whispers –turns out speaking up is antithetical to being enigmatic. But why criticize the banter if the songs were solid, right? They certainly were, and Tasseomancy is also a lot of fun to watch, too. For some reason, being twins happens to go really well with acting supernatural, and they really acted the part. Romy was especially transfixing as she seemed to have perfected a dance gleaned in one part from a legitimate gypsy and in another from a strange old lady in church. When Tasseomancy joined Austra onstage later in the night as Katie Stelmanis’s backing singers, Romy threatened to upstage even Stelmanis herself.

Show review: Shonen Knife at the Empty Bottle, 11/12

By Gene Wagendorf III

Yamano sings "Rock N Roll High School"

30th anniversary tour. The words bring images of bloated, wrinkled musicians and hired-guns wistfully stomping through cookie-cutter set lists and audiences split between those blinded by the thrill of their favorite hit and those left coldly disappointed by an impotent showing. Enter Shonen Knife and throw out everything I just said.

The pop-punk trio from Osaka, Japan opened their set Saturday with "Konnichiwa," from 1998's Happy Hour, immediately turning The Bottle into a grimy, sweaty basement party. Blunt drumming tussled with Ritsuko Taneda's rippling bass lines, instantly rubberizing knees and necks. The bassist jammed in sync with founding singer/guitarist Naoko Yamano, going for what looked like a kind of ZZ Top-meets-Devo thing. Serrated distortion shimmered through the bop of "Rock Society," the first of several songs played that justify the plethora of Ramones-comparisons associated with Shonen Knife. Built for fist-pumping, the tune is of the positive and playful punk that tends to be forgotten when talking about "real music." Yes, it can be difficult to take a band who earnestly plays songs like "I am a Cat" seriously, but any listener with their nose so upturned that they can't enjoy simple things like great melodies, stupid, giddy lyrics and a great beat is a fool who I didn't need to run into at the show anyway. The aforementioned kitty-themed song was sung by drummer Emi Morimoto, whose pixie voice pleasantly swayed over polished guitar flourishes.

Show review: Supreme Cuts, Memoryhouse, Balam Acab, 10/11

By Reagan Healey

Supreme Cuts

Chicago duo Supreme Cuts refuse to be labeled “post-dubstep,” preferring instead the more whimsical “future R&B,” even musing on their Twitter that post-dubstep should sound “like Godspeed but with wobble bass” (ha ha ha). But despite their professed distaste for the Skrillex cult, there is a pretty striking similarity between most sample-based music and pretty much all dubstep: as a general rule, the most inebriated guy in the room is usually the only one who knows how to dance to it. That said, Supreme Cuts are an absolute trip, a local treasure. They’re like a fucked-up Yin-and-Yang that smells of menthol cigarettes and blunt smoke--that last part isn’t a metaphor, by the way, Slack Kevorkian damn near knocked me over on his way for a cigarette after Friday night's show at the Empty Bottle, and he really did smell like weed and more weed.

Slack Kevorkian (also known as Magical Options) and his bandmate Mike Perry seem onstage like the kind of opposites you find in an '80s cop-comedy. Mike Perry looks like a slightly younger, more wholesome version of Alan Palomo of Neon Indian. Slack Kevorkian looks like someone who would overcharge you for hydrocodone. Clad in a Gucci Mane hoodie, his long, stringy black hair pulled out of his eyes with a dirty Bulls cap, he seemed part early Jack Donoghue, part Jay from a Kevin Smith film. If he didn’t have the habit of constantly gushing over his favorite artists (which range from Waka Flocka Flame to James Ferraro), he really would have run the risk of coming off too sketchy for his own good.

Supreme Cuts are in between records at the moment: their debut EP Trouble is currently available through Small Plates Records, and their first LP Whispers in the Dark is slated to come out sometime in the spring. Given the duo’s unapologetic admiration of smooth R&B acts like R. Kelly and Keith Sweat, it doesn’t take long to guess where they might have found the latter title. If leaked single “Belly” is any indication, though, it’s an apt name. The duo’s absolute wealth of samples, although distorted and layered out of recognition, seems culled from obscure early-'90s soul compilations designed specifically for sex. Every good sample-based act needs an angle--that is, an essential feeling to the bits of sound they dig up and manipulate. Supreme Cuts' sound is uniquely their own: sleaze layered on with a heavy, sweaty hand.

Show review: Wooden Shjips at the Empty Bottle, 11/5

By Andrew Hertzberg

Listen to a couple tracks by Wooden Shjips and it’s pretty easy to guess that they call San Francisco home. From their set-opener--"Black Smoke Rise," the hypnotic first track off this year’s West (released on Chicago’s Thrill Jockey) throughout the entire set at the Empty Bottle Saturday, the most appropriate adjective to describe their sound would be “psychedelic.” Now, yes, I understand that is a vague and inexplicit term. But for all of the connotations and associations that word brings up in your mind, Wooden Shjips hits them all. The drums and bass repeat relentlessly, the six strings scream and the electric organ drones.

Most songs follow a similar structure and are so fuzzed out that it can be difficult to tell where one ends and another begins (save for birds tweeting in-between songs). Really, tempo changes were the only way to differentiate, the improperly titled "Lazy Bones" one of the more upbeat and energetic of their catalogue, played early in the set. At one point, Ripley Johnson grinded the neck of his guitar against the mic stand. The action looked so unconscious that it was difficult to tell if on purpose or not. It was sort of odd how he also took the anti-frontman role, the only member constantly in the shadows, despite a projector aiming visual nonsense at the band. It added to the effect though, his baritone and already obscure vocals almost seeming to come out of nowhere.

Wooden Shjips make music I would generally think of as "background." But live, they command attention. If not for volume then because of the shear absurdity of repetition used. Yeah, the keyboardist looks bored, but the other three make up for it, even with minimal chord changes or progressions, sometimes opting for even only one or two chords to center an entire song around. In the end, it’s the subtleties that make the difference. You think you’ve been listening to the same thing for a while, before you realize you didn’t even notice the drummer add in a ride cymbal, or when the soloing switched from the keys to guitar. As West so implies, the theme of the album is about movement, finding new territory and exploring the unknown. Wooden Shjips aren’t exactly achieving that, but they do take the best of their influences (Velvet Underground, Spacemen 3, the Doors, even) and scramble them into one noisy omelet.