Recent reviews!

If you don't have Third Coast Review bookmarked or in your feeds (and why don't you?!) you may have missed two reviews I did last week. 

I covered the new album from The Kickback, and it's both a doozy and the best thing they've done so far. And I think everything they've done is great, so that's saying something!

And Dave Suh & the Dirty Wings released their debut collection of hooky rockers that left me feeling really good.

Laughing at yourself is the best medicine.

Last December I popped into Laurie's Planet of Sound for a quick look at the used CDs (as I often do when walking in that neighborhood) and spotted a mint-condition copy of the The Best Of The Best Show Numero Group compilation, and while I've heard many, many, many people talk about the Tom Scharpling show that often featured  Jon Wurster over the years I had never listened to it, yet I still felt an undeniable impulse to pick up the box set before I could reason myself out of spending the dough. The moment just felt right.

And I haven't regretted the decision one whit! The entire set is thus far delightful! 

I'm slowly making my way through, leisurely enjoying the segments one or two at a time, and yesterday I made it to disc 9 and the gem below that had me cry-laughing at myself for the first 2 acts and then sob-laughing so hard at the entirely expected unexpected turn the conversation takes.

While The Best Of The Best Show is out of print, if you ever see a used copy for sale, do yourself a favor and pick it up! And as you can see above, many of the segments collected in that box set are also on a series of compilations that are still available, so there's no need to put off digging into the show without the box set.

Also, and I swear this timings absolutely coincidental, but news broke recently that Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster will be taking The Best Show on a 25th anniversary tour for a few dates this October. Just FYI.

New music for you to check out!

I did a Quick Spins over at Third Coast Review covering new releases from Violets, OK Cool, Danimal Farm, and Post Animal. Check it out and give the albums a spin and pick up the ones you dig!

Muy Malkmus on the solo tip.

Photo by me!

Last May we saw Stephen Malkmus play an acoustic solo set at Old Town School Of Folk Music that quite honestly featured songs I never, ever expected to hear performed live. Due to the wonders of the modern digital age, some kind soul uploaded the entire set for free to the Internet Archive, so you don't have to track down a bootleg cassette tape, or finagle some complicated trade for 3 Phish tapes and good Dead show for 3 indie performances of dubious quality plus Malkmus, or something like that.

So now you can enjoy this fantastic set as well!

And while we're talking Malkmus, if you missed my recent review of the Pavements movie, you can still check it out here.

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A random hike through my morning brain.

I don’t know about you but I’m still getting my bearings. The last couple of years have held so much change (from the personal to the international) that I know I am a somewhat different person. Though I often wonder if I’m just returning to the core person I’ve always been; the one that somehow managed to survive despite being pushed into the background over the years. Whenever I am confused as to why when I meet two people at the same time, one person immediately likes me as a human while the other can’t stand me, I have always reckoned that the one being nice to me sees the painfully nice guy buried deep inside all the protective layers I’ve accumulated over the years. Then again, I have grown to believe that the layers of protection I built up were pretty easy to see through or bypass for most people, when they wanted to.

Does any of that make any sense?

I am really trying to get back to a more regular cadence of public writing, because I think it was that constant process that helped keep me tenuously tethered to the world in the more out-of-control periods in my life. These days there's no drama and therefore no more out-of-control periods, and if anything I worry I keep too much in my head, mistakenly keeping it to myself because I don't think I can get it exactly right, and I fear being misinterpreted.

But isn't fear of misinterpretation built into the core elements of writing? You're always taking a chance you'll look like a fool or worse, any time you try and write something honestly. And while I can certainly bend words to my will, I continue to be driven by honesty in my written output, so I'm always putting my neck out there. And in recent years I think I was rightfully cautious as I decided how I wanted to proceed.

I'm getting there. And as always, if you're reading this sentence right now, you haven't a clue how appreciative I am of your existence and that you'd spend a few seconds/minutes with me in your brain, hopefully helping both of us feel a little more seen in this world.

Yes, the latest is a pretty super 'Superman' movie.

I have found all the cinematic versions of Superman enjoyable in different ways. But this latest Superman stands a very good chance at becoming my favorite version. It’s the first to truly tell the story using the wilder and more playful (and in moments, more emotionally effective) lens of the comics, instead of trying to make a comic book story more “realistically” cinematic. 

No spoilers here, but I will divulge it’s also just a really good dang time in the theater. Our showing was packed and it makes me so happy so many people are seeing a movie with a strongly positive overall message that also just feels good to watch together.

P.S. It was an impulse purchase and ridiculously expensive, but I do not regret, not one whit, picking up this adorable Krypto popcorn bucket. Now I just have to decide whether he lives in my office at home or downtown.

How could anyone say no to this?!

Goin' mobile (within reason).

I bought a car a few months ago, so for the first time since 2009 I can get around the city (and suburbs and other states and countries and who know where else) in my own vehicle instead of relying on public transport, or another person’s car.

I hadn’t planned on buying a new car. The one time I could’ve really used one was during the pandemic, and goodness knows I am really hoping a situation like that doesn’t arise again in my lifetime.* But an opportunity from a long-trusted friend presented itself and I was able to purchase their used car for a fair price. I’ve never owned a new car in my life, but this is the closest to “new” I’ve owned thus far … and the car is already 14 years old.

I debated the purchase in my head, weighing all the pros and cons, and all the fears the responsibility of ownership of an item that requires a constant influx of money just to keep insured and full of gas, with mountains of potential dough going out the window should the vehicle require anything beyond those two things. But I got over my doubts, and the benefits really did outweigh my concerns, so I bought it.

I was worried it would impact my step streak, but I’m still walking as much as I ever had. Bt it has had one unexpected benefit I couldn’t have foreseen: I’ve completely stopped ordering food or groceries for delivery. Which means my snacking on impulse deliveries has dropped to almost zero, which has been pretty terrific for both my wallet and my waistline!**

Another unexpected outcome? I am loathe to lose a good parking space when I get one right on front of my house, which also reduces frivolous trips in favor of still getting most of my errands done on foot.

But as the weather gets nicer, I will happily lose those great parking spots on a regular basis in favor of driving out to different forest preserves and such to really widen the terrain of pretty hikes and fun excursions this summer! I've already starting knocking a few long-held to-visit spots on my list and am eager to pick up the pace.

Vroom vroom and zoom zoom indeed!

*Though the way things are going, I’m feeling less secure that will in fact happen. But I'm trying to keep it positive today, m'kay?

**In the “healthy, I feel better” sense. I am far less concerned with the vain reasons for reducing one’s waistlines these days. However, owning a car and discovering that Whole Foods carries all the "good" and "rare" Jeni's Ie Cream flavors has caused me to exhibit more self control in this area than I would have expected.

A quick sidebar to boogie down to.

Christine and the Queens and Cerrone photo by Thomas Spault

This song's been out for a spell, but I hadn't heard it until the EP it'll be on showed up in my email a few days ago. My bad! Otherwise I'd've been blasting this song from Disco legend Cerrone and the hypnotic Christine and the Queens all summer long (instead of, y'know, 4/5 of the Chicago summer)! It's light and sprightly while keeping a heavy beat anchor that will meld with your limbic system to promote positive grooves into your brain and brighten your day whether you like it or not. Me? I like it!

Snag the song through the Bandcamp player below, or get the full Catching Feelings EP when it's realized July 4.

 

Tuff Tamale's "proper" debut is almost here!

It's not that Kip and I haven't released versions of our music over the last couple years, but the upcoming Tuff Tamale release has me stoked since it finally feels like the right collection of tunes to issue as a "debut."

(Though, yes, Kitten Trapper Keeper is out there, but think of that as the mixtape and this new release as the album.)

And just in time for Riot Fest, it will feature a new mix of "We Hate Everything," since I think it's OK at this point in time to publicly reveal that we were also the duo behind Ur Lineup Sux, Bro.

We're hoping to have it on both Bandcamp and Spotify at then same time.

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.