Shout Out Louds hits Metro Thursday
Eighties-synth loving Swedes Shout Out Louds are touring the fun new album Optica with a stop at Metro Thursday night. I predict there will be dancing.
Also check out this cool remix of the single from the album, Illusions.
Black Moth Super Rainbow plays Metro
Black Moth Super Rainbow showed it could make music with a lot more bite on the band’s 2012 album, Cobra Juicy. You can see these guys at Metro Saturday night.
Also, check out this fan video pairing Gangs in the Garden with Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon.
New song: Majical Cloudz’s ‘Bugs Don’t Buzz’
The Canadian duo known as Majical Cloudz just shared this sparse, captivating song, Bugs Don’t Buzz, ahead of the album Impersonator, which is out May 21.
Majical Cloudz open for Youth Lagoon at Metro May 15.
Bugs Don’t Buzz – Majical Cloudz
Hot Water Music plays anniversary show at Metro
Hot Water Music, a band that initially formed in the early ’90s, plays a Metro 30th anniversary show Thursday. The all-ages show is sold out.
Nada Surf brings power pop to Metro
Nada Surf made one of the best and most memorable pop albums of 2012, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy. You can catch the band at Metro Saturday night with opener Eternal Summers (which also made a fine album this year, Correct Behavior).
Tame Impala plays sold-out Metro show Tuesday
Australia’s Tame Impala is playing a sold-out show Tuesday night at Metro. My guess is these guys will be playing a much larger venue when they return to Chicago for another gig. Check out the band’s website and you’ll see a number of sold-out shows. Tame Impala’s latest album, Lonerism, was just released last month.
Here’s a just-released video of Feels Like We Only Go Backwards from the album.
Sharon Van Etten plays Metro
Sharon Van Etten released a career-defining album, Tramp, earlier this year. If you haven’t heard, it’s really something to check out. She plays Metro Wednesday night.
Guided By Voices, Radar Eyes hit Metro
I have to admit I was far more excited to hear the first Guided By Voices reunion album this year compared to when I learned there would be a second. In all, there will be three GBV albums and at least two solo records from frontman Robert Pollard released this year. Excessive? Not for Pollard. And it’s not like he puts out anything that’s bad. Pollard has just never been one to edit himself.
Take Class Clown Spots a UFO, the second GBV album of 2012. It’s full of highlights (the title track, He Rises! Our Union Bellboy, Keep It in Motion) but are all 21 songs on the release amazing? Of course not. That said, I’m glad GBV is back. The band features the mid-90s “classic” lineup behind Pollard, the guys who made Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes.
GBV plays Metro Saturday with Chicago’s very cool Radar Eyes opening. The show will set you back $36.
Class Clown Spots a UFO – Guided By Voices
Also see New Guided By Voices song: ‘Class Clown Spots a UFO’ and Guided By Voices’ album takes trip back to ’90s
Chicago’s Maps & Atlases, the Right Now, the Hudson Branch come home for shows this week
It’s a week of homecomings and record release shows for some local bands. Kicking things off tonight (Tuesday), soft-pop group the Hudson Branch plays a record release show at Lincoln Hall for the new album World Kid.
The quirky Maps & Atlases, supporting its second album, Remote & Dark Years, headlines Metro Friday.
Finally, soul and R&B revivalists the Right Now, a band I really like, will play its own record release show Saturday at Lincoln Hall. The Right Now is promoting its new album Gets Over You.
Best bet: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Grafitti at Metro
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti plays Metro Friday night. The band, led by L.A. lo-fi folk freak Ariel Pink, is supporting the excellent album, Before Today.
As a bonus, the legendary Os Mutantes open.
Deerhunter, Real Estate hit Metro
There’s a great doubleheader at Metro Friday night. Deerhunter, promoting the new release Halcyon Digest, headlines a show opened by Real Estate.
Halcyon Digest may sound a little straighter than Deerhunter’s previous releases but it’s a good album.
Titus Andronicus, Best Coast, Free Energy, Male Bonding set to play Metro mini-fest tonight
Tonight’s show at Metro is like a mini-festival. Titus Andronicus and Best Coast alone would be worth the 18 bucks. Seventies throwbacks Free Energy and U.K. punks Male Bonding open.
Dirty Projectors to headline Metro show
Dirty Projectors played a very cool set at Lollapalooza. And I honestly thought it would be boring. Shows you what I know. You can catch them tonight at Metro.
Brian Jonestown Massacre hits Metro
I’m not sure what the Dandy Warhols are up to, but Brian Jonestown Massacre is still kicking. Anton Newcombe and his latest supporting cast play Metro Sunday.
Pondering Royksopp’s freaky video
Any collaboration between Norwegian electronic duo Royksopp and Sweden’s Fever Ray is going to be a little offbeat.
So what to do about a video? How about a drummer named Runar motoring down the road until he meets up with a tribe of loincloth-wearing screamers who form a drum circle? I’m not going to try to deconstruct this video.
Fever Ray, also known as Karin Dreijer Andersson, is one half of brother-sister combo The Knife. She plays Metro tonight.
Them Crooked Vultures: Just a little bite
Them Crooked Vultures are teasing us with a tiny sample — just 14 seconds — of the new super group’s sound.
I suppose when you’re Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones, you can get away with this stuff but it’s still kind of maddening.
The band debuted here in Chicago with a show at the Metro this month. A second show is planned in Amsterdam Wednesday.
The second video below is only a snippet but the best clip I’ve seen from that Metro show. Judging by the samples I’ve heard, the group sounds most like Queens of the Stone Age. I hope to hear more soon.
The Decemberists pull off crazy Heart cover
There are a ton of Lollapalooza videos on YouTube. Unfortunately, most of them are messed up. Hopefully, there will be more posted in the coming days. There were certainly some interesting moments to be caught on video (check out Lykke Li’s set).
Here’s a Lolla aftershow with The Decemberists doing a pretty faithful rendition of Heart’s “Crazy On You.”
Surely, someone produced a good quality video of Decemberists’ gig at the festival. Instead of playing the hits, the band performed the new album “The Hazards of Love” in its entirety. That took a lot of guts.
