A new EP from Woolworthy with both the brand spankin' new and a few old faves.

On their latest EP—Fall With You, out now—Woolworthy continues to make a strong case for their continued reunion.* It's got 2 new numbers, and 2 songs familiar to anyone who's caught the band live in, oh, the last 20 years or so. While many are excited the band finally re-recorded "Moped Song" off an early release that has always seemed to be a fan favorite. But for me, hearing them finally lay down their version of Cheap Trick's "He's A Whore" is the song I'm most excited to finally have a non-live copy of.

If you're in Chicago, the band is playing an EP release show at Livewire Lounge on June 20. 

*Not that any case needed to be made, mind you.

'Pavements' gave me a chance to play a little bit.

I hiked out to the far 'burbs to catch Pavements a few weeks ago before it opened in Chicago, and put together this review of the film for Third Coast Review. 

Inspired by the movie, I took the opportunity to do something a little different with this review. Hope you dig it!

The Pavement video I never saw before yesterday.

I am once of those lucky folks who got in on Pavement close to the ground floor (due to a girlfriend at the time with better musical taste than me) seeing many live shows from the band during their initial run, and the recent spate of activity spurred by Alex Ross Perry's Pavements movie (which I saw last weekend and will review this week) has resurfaced material in my feeds I had somehow missed before! 

So, please enjoy this trip down memory (shady?) lane with me.

Just parking this here for now...

As someone who has chronicled his life pretty publicly since 1995, you'd think I'd have plenty of material to draw from when I want to write about it. But my life looks more like an incredibly byzantine multidimensional highway any time you try and apply the various layers of my existence to any given point in time and I get tangled up trying to make things clear. (I imagine this happens to everyone to varying degrees.)

It has occurred to me that it might finally be time to write a book or something more longform about my time at Chicagoist. The site launched in 2004 and I joined in 2005, remaining the only constant on the staff masthead (aside from our New York-based leadership) until we were abruptly shuttered in 2017. This writing might never see the pubic light of day, but it seems like an endeavor worth undertaking for a number of reasons.

I imagine there aren't a lot of people out there who managed to be in a leadership position at a single digital media outlet during that period, and even fewer who simultaneously had a full career in the marketing and advertising sector, giving me a unique vantage point into all the changes journalism underwent during that time. And I think I can do it in a mostly positive way that highlights some of the difficulties we encountered without applying blame—which is a nice byproduct of the passage of time and the bigger picture of all that happened coming into clearer focus devoid of the emotions that might have been present at the time.

It also seems like a more compact and focused unit of time to explore, and it might even unlock the ability to write about other periods of my life that have so far stymied me.

Anyhoo, just putting these thoughts here in hopes that sharing them publicly will hold me accountable and actually spur me to accomplish this task.

We'll see if it works, but I thank you for reading this far even if it doesn't.

Nothin' rude about Pretty Rude's pretty excellent debut.

Pretty Rude photo by Thomas Palko

Opening with a chunky and lurching riffy rhythm, with a melody that acts as a winch drawing you steadily into the maelstrom, and then slathering on the Queen-like harmonies, Pretty Rude's full-length debut Ripe gets off to a ripping start. The grandiose opening immediately locks into a series of sturdily built tunes built on solid grooves and so, so many pleasantly chunky guitar riffs chugging effortlessly along. 

Pretty Rude is just a duo, powered by James Palko and Matt Cook, but Ripe is a big ol' band album, sounding like a painstaking attempt to merge the group's power with their obvious deep love of accessible melodies, to create a mix that is, well, just right!

It's a heavy rock and/or roll record that balances its relentless rawkin' energy with bursts of lush layers of harmonies, and it manages to complete that equation flawlessly through the discs brisk run through 8 tracks. Dig the tunes below and preorder or pick up the whole thing when it comes out on May 16. And don't worry about these songs ever aging poorly, they're guaranteed to always be perfectly ... ripe.*

*So, so, so sorry. I simply couldn't resist.

The Fugazi flyer I forgot about!

Yesterday I found myself digging through the Discord Records website, checking out the live Fugazi archives* and checked in on a show I saw in 1993 to see if anyone had added new comments about that concert since I bought the download when it became available a few years ago. Imagine my surprise at seeing a flyer I drew to promote that show—and completely forgot about!—on the Dischord website! 

It seems someone saved this flyer for all these years and I can’t tell you just how delighted and surprised I was to discover its existence! Though I initially forgot about this, it makes sense that my roommate who booked the show for the University also tapped me to create the promotional posters/flyers.

To the person who saved this flyer and thought to upload it decades later? I thank you from the bottom of my heart. This was one of the more unexpected yet thoroughly invigorating surprises I don’t get to experience all that often. And I won’t lie, I do love the fact that the little cartoon version of me in the corner of this flyer has been living on the Dischord website for a while, and it is hard to convey the tingly feelings that ran through my body for a solid 20 minutes after making this discovery. Thank you!

*FYI, I was spurred to revisit the archives upon the news that they are starting to offer those shows on the Fugazi Bandcamp page. 

I do still "Love" OK Go.

Sorta kinda disclaimer still stands, but the new OK Go video is just as wondrously inventive and breathtaking (and smile-making) as their previous endeavors. They've come a long way from those treadmills, but the planning and concepts have only gotten both more grandiose and more emotive. At least that's my take.

I'm seeing them later this week and confess, despite contributing to the fundraiser to augment support for the release of And the Adjacent Possible I still haven't listened to the new LP from start tp finish. It's wanted to be in the correct mindset before digging in, and I think today will be the day, So if this video spurs you to check out their new album, we might both be listening to it for the first time together without knowing it!

There's also an extended behind-the-scenes video for the making of the music video (that's a mouthful) and it's super entertaining well.

Grey Cell Evergreen.

No joke, Ned's Atomic Dustbin's Godfodder came out on this day in 1991!

A few months later I would see them open for Jesus Jones so I could review the headliner's set.* I know not everyone digs them, and many of my British pals slightly cringe when I proclaim I am a fan, but this debut was a perfect thundering mix of melody and guitars atop a truly rumbling rhythm section that my ears were thirsty for at the time. The group would never recapture this formula so perfectly again, but I can still listen to it from start to finish with a smile on my face. And while I do love the most popular single off this album "Kill Your Television," it's "Grey Cell Green" that hooked me into my initial fandom.

*It was a memorable night, complete with me cornering some Ned's players at the back bar of the Aragon when I stumbled across them on my way to try and find my show buddy since he'd taken a bunch of acid earlier. I found him in the bathroom staring at a sink as he turned to ask me if I too saw that it was filled with blood. And friends, it was (and not the best time for him to run into something like that. Yipes! But he was fine and we enjoyed the rest of the show together.

Revisiting The Lemonheads' 'Car Button Cloth.'

Photo by: Michel Van Collenburg

I was listening to the expanded reissue of The Lemonheads' Car Button Cloth earlier today. When it originally came out, I was buzzing along with most other folks about the hefty one-two punch of It's A Shame About Ray and Come On Feel The Lemonheads coming out in quick succession in 1993 and 1994. So in 1996, Car Button Cloth was met with great anticipation as we expected another collection of lead Lemonhead Evan Dando's honeyed mixture of power-pop melodies with an indie rock sensibility and an uncanny, unerring ear for a hook. Instead, Car Button Cloth was an album taking a more fractured approach to pop, and back in the day, that album really did occasionally feel like you were experiencing Dando's mental degradation and disassociation in real time.

But here we are, almost 30 years later, and in the grand timeline/story of The Lemonheads Car Button Cloth not only deserves a second chance, I believe it's at times knife-edge emotional uncertainty feels like an artistic statement from the subconscious, no matter what shape Dando was actually in when recording.

The original album certainly seems less "off-balance" to my older ears than it did to my youthful ones. However, this would have been back in a time when I was DJing a lot and would often focus on the tracks I thought would work in a set, so I give myself a slight pass for not immediately recognizing some of the gems within its running order upon its inital release. On that basis alone, I would urge you to give this a spin (or another spin, if you also haven't returned to this album in decades).

If you're gonna pick up the album, in this instance I do recommend the expanded version since the bonus tracks here are varied and entertaining and go beyond the usual “here’s an acoustic demo or two” that afflicts most other reissues of this ilk. In other words, in the parlance we used to employ back in the day when you needed a review to know whether an album was worth your hard-earned dough to hear anything else inside of it beyond the radio singles, it’s worth it.

How I've missed days like this.

It is mid-March and currently 75º F in Chicago and I can't tell you how much being able to work at home with my windows open and the breeze carrying in the sounds of birds my ears is doing absolute wonders illuminating and improving my mood. I highly recommend it! 

In other news, I also wrote about the excellent new album from Neal Francis today, so please do head over to Third Coast Review and check that out.

A quick intro to a band you'll want to know a lot more about in the future—Violets!

Man, I was starting to feel I was on a roll around these parts as far as picking up the pace of posting, but life had other ideas. I’ve got stuff in the works but for now I recommend a tasty new tune from Chicago’s Violets, who are playing this weekend with a March 1 show at Chop Shop in Chicago.

A Band Called Horse!

A Band Called Horse didn’t play many shows during their brief existence, but I’ve always felt a little proud that I booked one of them at The Note in 2001 while I was talent buyer there. My tenure at The Note preceded the era of easily shooting digital video on your phone, requiring actual an actual digital video camera of some sort, so I have stumbled across very few visual recordings of the shows I did there. 

But man oh man, am I glad this one exists!  

Hi there!

Since these little folks make me smile multiple times a day when I pass them in my apartment, maybe they'll help brighten your Friday too.

One recommendation: Hundreds of Beavers!

It’s rare that I stumble across a piece of media that will easily answer the question I hear most often, “what do you recommend I listen to or watch?” Usually there is so much sloshing around up there that I can’t answer quickly with a response that feels tailor-made to that person’s individual tastes. But recently I stumbled across a movie that feels like an excellent recommendation to just about anyone of (almost) any age!

Go watch Hundreds Of Beavers. Now.

It’s been out for a few years on the festival circuit but recently made it’s way to Amazon Prime video (though the Blu-Ray seems to have been delayed, if you’re more a physical media type). And to say much more would rob you of the pleasure watching the film with a naive mindset. But if I must save an elevator pitch, I‘d say it’s a live action Looney Tune cartoon stretched to feature film length, employing some of the most ingenious super-duper lo-fi effects I’ve seen.

One word of warning: it does open with a musical number that doesn’t entirely work, and it can take a few minutes to adjust to the film once it gets really rolling. But if you’re looking for tons of fun, settle in, get comfy, and look no further.

(If you live in Chicago, I see the film is actually playing at The Music Box tonight at 11:15, so it's clearly already moving into midnight movie territory...always an excellent sign.)

A listening update on that whole "listen to more old and familiar music" resolution.

As you can see from the graphics below, my resolution to listen to more “old” music last year and try and take a break from ceaselessly consuming the “new” was…not successful.

Oh well, let's see how I do this year!

30 years of Tankboy?

It has occurred to me that 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the original Tankboy email newsletter (that ran regularly until the mid-aughts) and the 20th anniversary of my starting at Chicagoist (a gig I held for the next 12 years). Mind-blowing, sometimes.

And people wonder why it sometimes feels like I've "been around forever/have always been online" or get confused when they discover my age.* Most folks tend to believe I am just a few years younger or older than they are, depending on what time in their life they first came across my writing or met me. I have plenty of thoughts on that, too.

But this is more a reminder to myself that I shouldn't let either of these two things pass by this year without some deeper discussion on both, so that's something for you to look forward to as well, right?

It's also weird to me to think that the nickname I picked as an AOL handle based on my favorite comic book character at the time that ended up sticking to me from then on might be older than a number of my readers. Wait, did people even still know what AOL was/is?!

Okee doke, carry on. Just parking a few thoughts and I'm glad you stopped by.

"Sent from 64 iPhones."

I guess in the spirit of full transparency I should divulge that in December I contributed enough money to be an "executive producer" during this current album cycle for the band OK Go. It's symbolic nature and I think of it more as directly putting some dough into the collective pockets of a band I've been a fan of since their earliest days in Chicago.

Anyhoo, for me it's pretty exciting to see OK Go come out of a pretty long hibernation period, and their first video for the new album continues their trend of creating eye-bending visuals, this time through the vehicle of multiple iPhone screens showcasing a carefully stitched together collection of interwoven shots.

Rejoice! Franz Ferdinand's new album is out soon!

You've only got to wait until January 10 to hear the whole thing, but why don't you start the new year off right with a taste of one of my favorite albums of 2025 (already!). 

Franz Ferdinand's last album exceeded all my expectations and 2025's The Human Fear takes a few wild left turns to shake things up, broaden their sound, and holy heck if it ain't another stellar release from a band now decades into their career. 

This ain't a sentimental stroll but an adventurous road trip for your ears, exploring all kinds of new territories and revealing eddy upon eddy of swirling, captivating hooks to swim in.

The band is touring North America later this year, but it appears the Christmas show they played for the local radio station last month means Chicago doesn't get a dedicated stop on the proper tour. Which is a bummer, but I'm sure they'll be back some other time.

UPDATE 1/10: The band has just announced a Chicago stop after all! They'll play The Vic on April 5!

Pickle the Kitten: 2006–2024

Pickle the Kitten passed away last Thursday, December 5. I was with her through the very end and she left this plane peacefully, surrounded by my and Nora's love. Losing my steadfast companion of the last 18+ years has been incredibly painful, but it's also meant the last couple days have been absolutely filled with favorite memories of my time with her. And somewhere out there I can't help but feel she's found her furry family from over the years and is running around with Betty the Beagle, Lucy the Dog, Chloe the Cat, and Sasha Cat.

Back it up back it up back it up back it up...

 

It's Friday. And, forgive me, that means it's also Fri-YAY! And whilst things may seem dark right now—I mean, it is the start of winter and the skies have been largely grey and gloomy—I think Neal Francis may just have the antidote to any blahs (or arghs) you're feeling today.

"Back It Up" is a slinky funk stroll that seems perfectly suited for a good ol' fashioned summer strut, hence it's lovely jam to help melt your woes. For at least the next four-and-a-half minutes or so.