Panda Riot at the Whistler!

This was a nice thing to come back home to from traveling to my cousins wedding in New York. The Whistler is such a small intimate place. You can feel like you're on top of the stage as soon as you walk in. Panda Riot on a Sunday night felt like a welcome home. And as one changes from seeing loved ones marry off, so does this band as one was away. They played new music. And I have the CD. It's awesome. Wait, first the performance. So I left the house late I thought. I was fully expecting to miss the show, but something was making me follow through with driving to The Whistler. When I walk in and sit down it was not clear if some band just finished playing or is about to begin. Damn, I just realized this is the same fucking narrative as always.....anyway, the euphoria of seeing Panda Riot play when you thought you missed them, white washes the bitterness of the ride. They played new music and they added a second vocal. I did not expect this pleasant discovery. The place often seemed packed, not to capacity, but a good modest sized crowd. It was not clear how many went specifically for Panda Riot. And so they play the familiar songs from "She Dares All Things", more people. There was this white couple at some point dancing salsa like they were ordered by their Mexican kidnappers. And now my gringos it is time to dance. I mean they were really into it. It sounds like I'm taking the piss out of them, but I remember them fondly, as part of the spontaneous appreciation of the band that played in front of them. It was nice to see them like Panda Riot. I go see these guys a lot, just like Alla. There are some things that are best appreciated in the long term. Like the transition into having another singer, who apparently will play a drum as well.

Even as I have that CD, I constantly rediscover songs by hearing them play out live. This is a band that plays in my head all the time, in the car, ipod. It's giddy shoegaze that wakes you to a morning in a happy mood. Thats the intangible feel I always get from Panda Riot without reading lyrics, none of that. They are the sound of early morning wonder. The new songs from the EP "Far and Near" are no departure of that sentiment, they just have a faster cardio, well on one song. And yet they are still casual in their quicker step. In the goth club this is the sort of sound that brings that early morning splash feel to the blood stream. You don't move faster, just with more enthusiasm. The second song on "Far and Near" has this fast trip-hop thing that the vocals still ride casually. I like every song in the new EP. Even as they are new they remind me of why I liked the band to begin with.

Catch a Tiger, at Reggies

This was an awesome and full Wednesday night for me. I came to Reggies to see The Start, not expecting this local band Catch A Tiger to impress, and yet they did. I was fully expecting The Start to keep me broke but it was this band that I eventually liked. I walked in as Catch A Tiger was playing. I liked what I was hearing from probably the end of the second song I heard. Ms Andrea stood out from the crowd precisely because of her plain gray and blue, well at least to me. There was something sweet and understated about it. She didn't throw herself around like Katie Jane. Didn't need to. The music was not plain, it got my attention, and I was fascinated by her understated presentation of it. A calm in the midst of the storm of guitars and drums. The demo CD they have grows on me. Some songs sound to me like Placebo only with a female voice. I got it. Auf Der Maur.

I took pictures and video as this appreciation of the band formed. I didn't see any CDs of the band at the merch table so with more urgency I took video. These early performances of any band, before they are signed are the fleeting moments that I like to record. For me it's not just the performance the videos record, but you know, the things that happened around it. What was going on in the world around it. Sure there is the escapist quality in going out to see these shows, but I know these events do not create themselves in a vacuum. Indeed they are reactions to the world around. Anyway, uhm, I like how these guys react to the world. I am a fan.

Chinese Stars, Tinsel Teeth

I was anticipating this Free Monday night at the Empty Bottle. I looked up Tinsel Teeth after reading about them at the 'Bottle website. The Chinese Stars I read on some death rock/gothic magazine review on them that I recall. This is something to go on time for. Upon arriving I noticed how they were setting up the stage on the floor where the crowd would be. As I was processing the fascination of this, everyone was taking their places as close to the band as possible. Tinsel Teeth from Providence, Rhode Island were about to begin. This already felt like the kind of performance that shatters the fourth wall with the audience by setting up in their very space. I find a good spot to sit down on. The female lead had this blond wig on, and a skinny black dress with black cowboy boots on. The crowd gathers not to party but to witness. It's like they're gonna see an accident. If they are setting up on the floor it's for a reason. And so the reason started, or uhm, was set off like a short fuse.

The girl just went ape shit like Queen Adreena. The girl growled and convulsed over the chaotic drone of the guitars. She was just throwing herself all over the place. The girl had this growl of a voice, deep.....not girly at all. At some point she strapped on a dildo, and bounced around with it, until it broke off. The wig had long since fallen to reveal this shock of black hair. The girl's dress, soaked in sweat rolled up and stayed up, and her red striped panties were there for all to see. She spat out fake blood all over the place, looked like a roller derby vet. Everyone in the band actually looked bandaged and battle scarred. The girl often would convulse herself into the crowd, and merge back out, thrashing about the whole time. It was crazy and I loved it. The black dress the singer had on, was so soaked in sweat that her top fell off....or rolled down, just like Queen Adreena. And the band played on. At the merch table the band members were real cool, this is when the girl's tattoos were more noticeable. Katie Jane Garside from Queen Adreena I would not expect at the merch table at all. I believe her to be too shy and aloof. But not this lead singer. She was cool, not aloof. She didn't even seem drunk. The craziness was put away, spent during performance. In case one notices that I don't use her name, I didn't ask......it just didn't come up, and the band's myspace page does not help.

This Monday night suddenly did not feel like one. It's so cool when that happens. You are having such a good time that your internal calender does not register the night as Monday night. The main act, Chinese Stars had yet to play at this point and I was not expecting to like them as much as I eventually did. I was ready to go home after Tinsel Teeth. I stayed around and met people that I knew from going to Veggie Bite so much. The wonder of that moment had me stay long enough to wait for the middle act to finish. I kept recalling in my mind how I read about Chinese Stars in a death rock magazine but I can also go home sooner. Tinsel Teeth already made this night memorable. I figured I can wait and hear one song, and then go home. I'm so into female vocalists that sometimes I don't know what I'm saying no to until I miss it, or almost miss it. I could have walked out before Chinese Stars, but I did not and I feel fortunate.

Monday nights at the 'Bottle can peak and then empty out fast. Well that can be any night anywhere, sometimes the main act has the least amount of people in the audience. The crowd just thins out. They saw who they wanted and then go home. On a Monday that can happen fast 'cause the next day is still Tuesday no matter how Friday-ish the Monday night felt. So when the crowd stays and actually gets bigger until the very end that is very special. Now, I did say when Tinsel Teeth played, people gathered to witness. They all knew that there was something to see. For Chinese Stars, it was the people who went apeshit. Perhaps this betrays my relatively short relationship with Empty Bottle, but I have never seen a mosh pit there, at least not before this band. I absolutely loved it. These guys just owned the joint. I took no video, because for anyone that sees it would only see a bald guy with a slight gut using the mic like he's beating off, as fans cheer him on. That and I was too busy enjoying it myself. As mosh pits go, this was relatively we behaved. It's quite something when you see girls in the pit, I assume them to be more reserved, less reckless than guys, and yet there they were pitting. I was a fan from the first song. Their blood pumps fast, their bass is bouncy and dance friendly. In a goth club this can work to wake people up. The singer has this cool pervy type of voice. I still can't get enough of the two CD's I got. They will come back to Chicago I think next year.

Walking Bicycles ?Go?

I don't know if I can call what I write here a review of the CD ?Go?, so much as it is a praise of it. This still plays in the car when I'm going to the Empty Bottle, or something. It plays at random on the ipod and I can jog just that much more longer. I was so glad to know Scary Lady Sarah likes them. I was thinking that this is something that she would like and she already knows them, and they know her. That was cool.

The lead singer Jocelyn's voice has this husk to it. It's part of the band's signature for me, and it has this casual authority to it, unafraid of the surroundings the voice describes. And once again the voice leads one into the landscape of urban decay, thwarted dreams. This grey world first visited with the self titled CD and then with "Disconnected". Here they are throwing a party all over it. This is how I see it. This world is given more details, more and different decay to describe, and the party continues. I keep saying "this world", I include in that phrase how they sound. "?Go?" is more of what I like in Walking Bicycles. "Dead Idols" is the coolest left turn in the Walking Bicycles arsenal. Like you're in this carnival, creepy and evocative of a forgotten time, an impression left when they played that song live, and follows through when you hear it later when you're driving or something. On that first of December, a free Monday at the Empty Bottle, I was bouncing away to "Welcome to the Future" as well, and "Old San Juan", . It has to be said that they don't sound like they want to scare you with what they describe. Jocelyn's voice stands casual in the surroundings. And the whole time you're bouncing around. The music has this Joy Division urgency to it. It's very dancy punk. They have a natural quick pulse. It's in the drums, it's in the bass guitar.

In so many reviews I read they are compared to or mentioned with Siouxsie and the Banshees. I do so as well, as a complement yet I see them as a separate animal. Here it is....if you like Siouxsie from "TinderBox" and back then you will like Walking Bicycles now. But there are departures, this band for me is iconic for it's own reasons, it's own signature. They are products of different times, ours.

Silver Pines

It was a Monday or Tuesday at The Whistler on Milwaukee Ave, I park the car far away. The thing that was fueling the urgency to see this band was extreme curiosity. I notice from far away that there is a line formed in front. The place is filled to capacity. You have to wait for people to come out first. Now I really want to see them, 'cause the Whistler don't just fill up on a Tuesday night for nothing. So I finally go in and catch the tail end of the show. I got like two pictures and a video, in case I like it. I love the captured music for so many reasons. Like I'm catching some fleeting moment that need not be forgotten. I feel fortunate sometimes for this curiosity that leads me to these places, to these moments. At the time it's still too early to analyze what I captured. I buy a cd and a shirt that looked gray in the club but like turned purple on me outside. I bought the cd "Forces" from the lead singer I forgot what I asked her but I think that they are from Texas. I even forgot her name, if I even asked. I completely invested in the band on blind faith that I would like it. It took a few days and now I'm so into them.

It's like this is the local Twin Peaks band that opened for St Vincent. Hell they're from Texas too. They are dreamy and quirky like Cocteau Twins only with heavier beats. They got this swagger and twang to them that just imposes on me this picture of Texas bars. It's in the girl's voice and in the guitar this swagger is all I can collect it under. And sometimes they sound sweet, familiar and weird like a fuzzy dream nearly forgotten. Fuzzy dream that revealed you. I just have to say this again, if you are a fan of Cocteau Twins this Texas band Silver Pines is for you. They got this dreamy psychedelic sound that does not alienate Alice so much as it invites her in. There are no liner notes that tells you the names of the songs, or the names of the band members. Nothing. Not even a myspace page, well at least not on the CD itself. I did find it, the myspace page itself. And they filled up The Whistler. There is a sadness in some of the songs, like in "Time Father". It's shoegaze that does not let your mind wander away into your own thoughts. It's not boring. Instead you find yourself wandering into the music, but once again it's like Cocteau Twins, or Julee Cruise if she were from Texas. There is something haunting about it, like a tragic event trapped inside amber. All this honestly is not analysis of the music. They were immediate impressions that I got from the first listen in most songs......alright, two songs. Still those that don't imprint right off, do so over time like you just bought it all over again. . The wonder captures you, but the relationship with the music will be long term. I guess when I say "Texas swagger" I don't mean it in a way that takes from it's urban appeal. I don't mean "Tex-Mex".....yet that is not a bad thing either. How do I say this without digging myself into another hole.....I hear this band and I'm reminded of the movie "Love & A .45", like the songs from this band belong in that film or something similar. A good Texas indy film.

Post Honeymoon

So I saw Post Honeymoon when they had their cd release party on a Friday at The Hideout. I arrived too late to see Bengal Lancer.....arrgh!!!! I was fucking pist. I so wanted to see them as well. I've seen Post Honeymoon one time before and I got their three song ep. Now they were having their cd release thing and I bought their full length. They are Rachel Shindelman and Nick Kraska. They are married. I think they were both in Bang Bang, another awesome Chicago band. I know Rachel was for sure. She played keyboard for them and now here she is leading her own excellent creation.

If you like Amanda Palmer/Dresden Dolls, I think I can sell you on this band, and for the same reasons. Amanda Palmer is the only point of reference I can think of at the moment. And if I can hold your attention with that name then you can like Post Honeymoon. Nick plays the drums like a mad man, and with his eyes closed. He's such a live wire, he makes the performance more intense. Their songs are dark, muscular and fast. When they are slow, your attention is still held by the urgency of Rachel's words. Even without learning the words the songs have more darkness than light in the end of the tunnel. Close your eyes and they just sound like it's Projekt Fest. "Dirge" warns you about the storm, you stay to brave it, and are left behind. The song is slow and chilling already and then she says "they know you're here, but they don't care 'bout you". Fuck!! That just sounds so ominous. It's campfire scary. And I don't just get it reading the lyrics. In every performance I can hear Rachel clearly. You know how sometimes Amanda Palmer's words stream out like a bunch of run on sentences racing each other. I'm not saying that like a bad thing, but just to better describe Post Honeymoon. Rachel's words don't come out that fast but they still have that urgency-of-the-moment feel to them. "Dirge", "Lars", and "Night Guard" have imprinted on me, in part because I saw these live. This is goth club worthy local music. Everyone will suddenly want to dance to this the way they dance to Joy Division. The Hideout crowd didn't dance that much, but they all still loved Post Honeymoon.

This was a crowd that knew who they came to see. Still you can't just bounce around by yourself like an asshole. But this can be played at Neo, and have that dark club street cred. I saw musicians from other local bands on this night. It was nice. It was a moment anticipated, finally present.

phantogram

I think this was a Wednesday, in June. I saw this band in Subterranean on North Ave. Actually I missed most of the show. My Gold Mask played first I know that, but since they performed before Phantogram I missed them entirely. I took my aunt to some far away mall. Alright so I miss most of Phantogram, but what I caught was significant. They are Joshua Carter and Sarah Barthel. I think they are from New York City. I walked in and started taking pictures and once video. By this time I forgot what I liked about the band. The research I did was barely recalled. All that I remember was that I did liked what I heard on their myspace page. So I captured what I could. I noticed how sparse the audience was, perhaps My Gold Mask saw the bulk of it and they thinned out later, I don't know. I still had not formed an opinion at the time I captured what was left of Phantogram. I could have been frugal and just said fuck it, don't buy nothin' and go home. But I bought their CD. I heard it later and I have to say, FUCKING HELL this is good. The song that imprinted on me "When I'm Small" captures you first with the beat and then the guitar then Sarah's voice. Each added instrument holds your attention to the greater whole. You know how Portishead just holds you even when they are slow. Phantogram can do it with this song. I can just see this song at Neo or Nocturna. This is goth club worthy music to dance to. It's a mid-tempo song, something that lets you concentrate your movements when dancing to it. It's electronic music that still has this organic non-electronic feel to it. Well, in part because of the electric guitar. Even mid tempo songs fall into this danger of letting your attention wander away from it but not with this song from Phantogram. I can't believe I almost allowed myself to miss it all together. I'm happy for what I captured.