Tuesday’s best new music: Dum Dum Girls release ‘He Gets Me High’
Initially, I thought the Dum Dum Girls were going to be nothing more than another throwback band doing faithful renditions of ’60s girl group music. After spending more time with the music since last year’s debut album, I Will Be, I feel there’s more depth to the band’s fuzzy, catchy songs. And now with the latest release, I’m anxious to hear what else the Dum Dum Girls have to offer.
The Girls follow the excellent I Will Be with a four-song EP, He Gets Me High, out Tuesday. It’s a strong EP — all the songs are very good. Wrong Feels Right and the title track are big, full songs that grab your attention. He Gets Me High is the standout and is maybe one of the best songs the band has recorded. Download it below.
Take Care of My Baby has the indistinguishable girl group sound. The EP ends with a great Smiths cover, There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.
Highly recommended.
Punk Planet founder Dan Sinker is Twitter’s MayorEmanuel
For months, Twitter’s fake Rahm Emanuel kept Chicagoans entertained with hysterical spot-on observations and plenty of profanities. In recent weeks there was a push from the local media to figure out who was behind the joke. MayorEmanuel’s Twitter bio: Your next motherfucking mayor. Get used to it assholes.
The Atlantic outed the man behind the tweets today and the creator of @MayorEmanuel is fessing up. Dan Sinker founded and ran one of Chicago’s best-known zines, Punk Planet, from 1994 until 2007. He now teaches at Columbia College and this afternoon was hiding inside his house. “Every TV station in Chicago is currently outside. Fuck,” Dan says on his other Twitter account.
MayorEmanuel’s last tweet was February 23, a day after the real Rahm Emanuel won the mayor’s race.
New band: Summer Camp releases ‘I Want You’
Well, not exactly brand new: British electronic-pop duo Summer Camp is about to make its first appearance in the U.S. this week. Check out the single I Want You, which will appear on an upcoming full-length album.
And here’s a video for the John Hughes-inspired Round the Moon from Summer Camp’s first EP Young.
Classic Chicago punk ‘Busted at Oz’ reissued
A lot of the bands in the 2009 movie You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-1984 don’t even register as a footnote for punk rock’s broader narrative. That’s too bad. The bands were good and they had something to say. Several of them played a gig at the Double Door last fall. Pioneering punks Tutu and the Pirates played their own shows last year.
The Oz club and the long out-of-print comp album Busted at Oz figured prominently in the movie. Now you can buy a newly released copy of the album. Permanent Records just reissued a limited vinyl edition of Busted at Oz. The record features Naked Raygun, Silver Abuse, Effigies and others. You can pick the LP up at Permanent’s store. But hurry. A hundred red vinyl versions were almost sold out by Saturday afternoon. Permanent still has black vinyl editions, however. Profit from the project is going to charity.
Muppets cover LCD Soundsystem (again)
Check out this awesome fan-made video (click here) for LCD’s Dance Yrself Clean.
Kermit the Frog is familiar with James Murphy’s work, having performed it in the past.
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Best bet: Dum Dum Girls at Empty Bottle
After an impressive debut, I Will Be, last year, Dum Dum Girls follow with the four-song EP He Gets Me High (out Tuesday).
Check out the single, He Gets Me High, below. Dum Dum Girls play Empty Bottle tonight. Minks and Dirty Beaches open.
He Gets Me High – Dum Dum Girls
And here’s a live performance of I Will Be:
Rhymefest forces runoff in Chicago
Rahm Emanuel steamrolled his rivals in the Chicago mayor’s race tonight ending speculation that a runoff election would be needed. But the 20th Ward aldermanic race will have a runoff thanks to rapper Rhymefest.
The rapper also known as Che Smith is challenging incumbent Willie Cochran, who couldn’t muster the majority needed to win. The runoff will be April 5.
Best bet: Tennis plays Lincoln Hall
If you still can’t get enough of the chillwave-’60s girls group revival from last year, go see Tennis at Lincoln Hall Tuesday.
Tennis released its breezy debut, Cape Dory, last month.
New band: Darlings readies EP ‘Warma’
Darlings, a very catchy New York garage band, is working on a new EP. The five-song Warma is due out March 15.
Check out the song and video, Big Girl, below.
Volcano Choir plans a pair of Midwest shows
After wrapping up a short tour of Japan, Volcano Choir (featuring Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon) plans a pair of Midwest shows next month in Minneapolis and Milwaukee.
The band plays Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis March 25 and Turner Hall in Milwaukee March 26.
New video: Kills drops ‘Satellite’
Check out the new Kills video Satellite.
Smith Westerns adds tour dates, opening shows for Wilco, Yeasayer in May and June
My first impression of the new Smith Westerns album, Dye It Blonde, was that it’s over-produced bubblegum pop. Now I can’t stop listening to it.
The young Chicagoans are getting a lot of deserved notice and will be opening shows for hometown heroes Wilco in early May and Yeasayer in late May/early June.
Smith Westerns plan a couple of their own Chicago homecoming shows, including a sold-out gig at Empty Bottle next Saturday. The band headlines a Lincoln Hall show May 11. Tickets go on sale Friday, according to Lincoln Hall’s website.
New band: Girls Names releases free song
Ireland’s Girls Names, a trio from Belfast, is working on its debut album, Dead to Me.
The record is scheduled for an April release. To get our interest, the band released an insanely catchy song off the upcoming LP, Seance on a Wet Afternoon.
Download it:
New indie releases: Yuck leads the pack
There are a slew of new releases today. My top pick is the debut album by Yuck.
When I think of ’80s music, I think of a lot of different styles. Yuck’s guitars remind of mid- to late ’80s Dinosaur Jr. and maybe a little bit of My Bloody Valentine. Give a listen to the song, Holing Out, posted below. It’s not groundbreaking but it’s very good stuff. I highly recommend the album.
Fans of the Vivian Girls can indulge in two spinoff bands. La Sera is Katy Goodman’s side project. That self-titled release is out today. The Babies, a collaboration with Vivian Girl Cassie Ramone and Woods bassist Kevin Morby, also released its first album. I like both offerings from these side projects.
Devils Hearts Grow Gold – La Sera
Meet Me In The City – The Babies
Among the other notable releases: Mogwai’s Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. See my post from last week.
UPDATE: After a short U.S. tour with Chicago’s Smith Westerns U.K.-based Yuck will make a second swing through the states. The band plays Lincoln Hall May 3 with Tame Impala.
See a pair of NSFW Yuck videos after the jump.
The Raveonettes release a free, new single, ‘Forget That You’re Young’ to promote LP
The Raveonettes just released a new song, Forget That You’re Young, to promote the upcoming album Raven in the Grave.
The album is due out April 5. The duo plays Lincoln Hall the following day.
Forget That You’re Young – The Raveonettes
Here’s a shaky fan video posted a month ago:
New video: Sin Fang ‘Because of the Blood’
Joining the long list of videos being spit out in the past couple of weeks: Sin Fang’s Because of the Blood. The song is on the sophomore album, Summer Echoes (due out next mont).
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New video: Cloud Nothings’ ‘Understand at All’
Cloud Nothings just put out a video for Understand at All, a single off the band’s new self-titled album.
Mogwai offers video before ‘Hardcore’ release
Check out Mogwai’s video for Mexican Grand Prix off the band’s new album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. The LP comes out Tuesday. I don’t recall a Mogwai album getting so much buzz, but the songs I’ve heard so far are pretty good.
Generationals offer free song, ‘Greenleaf’
Generationals plan to release the band’s second album, Actor-Caster, next month.
To promote the album, it’s giving away a free, catchy single, Greenleaf. I last wrote about these guys in November. Check out the song below.
Strokes release free song, ‘Under Cover’
The Strokes are releasing the first single off the band’s upcoming album Angles. The song, Under Cover of Darkness, will be free for two days starting Wednesday. You can download it and hear a stream of the new album here. Angles is set to be released March 22.
It’s been five years since the band’s last release. Needless to say, Angles is a highly anticipated album. The Strokes nailed a Lollapalooza show last summer.
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No Joy plays Lincoln Hall
If you’re heading to the sold-out Best Coast/Wavves show at Lincoln Hall tonight or tomorrow, go early enough to see No Joy.
The up-and-coming band just released its debut Ghost Blonde in November.
Audio on the video below isn’t great.
You can watch the band’s NSFW video here.
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Robbie Fulks does Liz Phair
Robbie Fulks’ Monday night residency at the Hideout takes an unexpected turn (if there’s such a thing with Robbie) as he covers Chicago’s very own Liz Phair.
Robbie promises an Exile-heavy show but says that he will draw from other albums.
“I think my favorite of hers, for reasons that are probably too personal to be strictly defensible, is Whitechocolatespaceegg,” he says, promising at least two songs from that album. Whitechocolate, the third album from Phair was practically a career ender.
Here’s Liz back in the day:
Robbie is no stranger to covers:
Beach Fossils share song ‘Calyer’
Beach Fossils, following up on last year’s debut album, plan an EP release next month. The band is sharing a new song, Calyer, to promote the release.
