Shana Falana/Panda Riot

  It was a long drive from near Joliet to East Chicago then a pit stop to Burbank on my way to Coles on Milwaukee Ave to see Shana Falana and Panda Riot. And its different when you are now familiar with the music, as I am with the Pandas. Why do I go see them so many times? This was their first gig since I think December. Ehhh,... that's no reason. They were mentioned in the Tribune I think. Its nice to see them in traditional print. The need to see them is rekindled. It seemed to be normal to have them mentioned in shoegaze blogs or specialized websites of that kind. Print or just the Tribune is like getting recognition through a rip in space/time from a parallel universe. Its unexpected and so when its there....wow! Rekindled. What took you so long, you feel like asking. Their performance was very well received, and they seemed to have fun. Cory's bandmates from Lightfoils were there and they are always so cool with me, I feel at ease around them. Philly Peroxide was there. I was glad to see him. He actually made it to Covenant at Abby Pub and Shana Falana! He left early during the Panda's gig.
  At some point, you've had your fill of it, and you want to bask in the afterglow. And you can walk confidently assured of its continued existence without having to see it.  It's perhaps the reason I chose not to go to see Covenant (which is a great fucking band) and instead rushed to see Shana and Panda Riot. They played a new song that does not have a name yet.  Goodnight Rich Kids you can easily call Buenas Noches Mirreyes. Mexico's rich and tacky elite drifting into my stream of thoughts. Most of what I recall Panda Riot playing is from their newest Northern Automatic Music. That I don't get enough of. And it has me anticipating whatever comes next. Its not just from hearing their newest. Its also from talking to Brian and saying what direction they are going. Cory I can tell was into his bass playing. Brian after their gig was up was having a cigarette outside with everyone. If I would have arrived late for this it would be apparent to me on his face that they are done, and he is happy. This was not the show at Emporium after all where he was waiting for his gig to start when I arrived.

There was no time delay. This was not something that needed time to build. This was a stick of dynamite with a very short wick. Shana was absolutely impacting since I first heard Anything. I'm still listening to the two CD's Velvet Pop and In The Light. Them two kids look about as related as Four Brothers. So many tracks dropping on top like stacks of library books all at once. The songs are so different from one another. You can't tell the kids are related. With a lot of artists, and its not a bad thing, you notice faint intangible signatures that bind their music together. It can be in how they phrase things, how the keyboard sounds....how they play the guitar, something. Within Velvet Pop, Brainy Fox does not telegraph I Don't Want It. And that whole album does not telegraph In The Light. Shana is a walking compilation of a bunch of different artists. So this is what I thought I was missing as I was driving people home across county lines....hell, across state lines. As far back as East Chicago I was anticipating.....hmmm, and that's the difference from the first time around. Her music was now something familiar in my head. It plays in there often. Awareness is the gravitational pull.
   I have not seen Shana since that one time at Empty Bottle. Her show then was absolutely impacting, and I believe it was also with the Pandas. The crowd at Cole's I recall was into her. A phalanx of people in front, close enough to see her sweat. Some were taking pictures. There was a real mutual energy between audience and performer. And she called us beautiful. She is touring for her latest release Set Your Lightning Fire Free. In some ways for me it is the middle sibling between her two previous releases. Some like Go display that raw, dark energy that can be seen through the fog. For me it leans more Velvet than Light. It reminds me of what sparked my interest when I first saw her. Hell she even has refined versions of tracks I have been into. Know UR Mine, Anything are reworked to sound like they could have come from In The Light. Even as I write this, the impression is still evolving and leaving marks. Stray lines of her lyrics emerge like a hand writing on the wall. I give up on explaining the impact of stars, now I just enjoy them.
Zig

 

Dahlia Revolt

They bring a a sunny ray of daylight into their electronic sound.  Normally I like the dark, brooding shit. That makes you suspect anything that feels too bright and cheery. Yet tracks like Warpaint Sound, Portraits snuck into the regular rotation in my head, made nice and is at home with all the brooding, dark tracks that are the norm. A few Daniels in the Lions den is a great thing. Dang....they even shoveled the sidewalk for Sleeping On The Sun, the same fucking lions! Their genuine sweetness is not too intense. There is a natural space for it to warm to you. Electronic and also warm and organic. Really anyone not liking electronic music is just too willfully Amish. I mean really what the fuck. They just wake you up in this non intrusive, organic yet still addictive way.  Their live set was louder and aggressive in a way I did not expect just glancing on their band page.....well I didn't just glance, I listened for a bit. Loud and robust and I have to really count this live encounter as my first real impression and....pow, nice. Its actually then two separate impressions I get from this band, the recorded work and seeing them live. And here I am happy to weave the two threads into a single cloth. Dahlia Revolt first caught my attention when I looked up what was going on in the parallel world that is Elbo Room.  They are classically trained pianist/producer Mallory Miller and singer-songwriter Adam Reese.  Their debut album is Rooftops and Graffiti. The picture of them both sitting between a descending sun caught my eye.

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  Elbo Room.....to glance in that venue is like checking out who is playing in a parallel, bizarro Chicago, or some other city. People that perform there I rarely see anywhere else. I know perhaps its me creating an artificial distance to make something close and local seem more....exotic, otherworldly, a pocket parallel world. Local bands that I see in every other venue for some reason I don't see there. I don't know if there is a reason for this. The few bands that I have seen there hit me like a ton of bricks and are iconic to me.  I missed that show, but a chance to see them again came around.... anyway, out of that  Chicago venue it seems and into familiar radar is Dahlia Revolt ...... Briefly, I  look up the music and oh, behold they are playing The Whistler.  So I jump at this thing that I've kind of built up in my head and when you miss it the first time it builds more. The CD they had they gave it for free, and I've been listening to it ever since.  They bring a sunny mood that is like smelling fresh rain on grass. How awesome is that. I did not expect or automatically assume I will bring home a CD to listen to.
Zig

Oaks

  I bought the CD Field Beat from Oaks this one show they did with Population and Staring Problem. I liked their performance. They are Erica Krumm  and Jim Kolles, a married duo from Minnesota. In The Minnesota Daily they are described as shoegaze. I'll just run with that because I agree, and it gives me permission to continue using that crayon.  Erica in that same Minnesota Daily article sums up the band's lyrics as about "love, death, and nature".  Now I really want to pay attention to their words, because I like how they sound before even understanding. So in ways they are a darker shade of shoegaze, but they are perky too. The fog sometimes clears and you can proceed faster. This is goth club worthy shoegaze. I bring up goths because we are the only ones that even bother to dance to this while the hipsters cannot be pulled away from their iphones. I can seriously dance to this, and that's another way of saying that it keeps my attention effortlessly. And now its something I would love to see again.
 
 I was indecisive about buying the music or letting it slip forever and ever.  I fucking hate that. I'd rather just fucking know. Hell I'm in the fucking North side and I may go for some Indian. Devon Ave ain't that far from Burlington. Some opinions don't survive pizza, but this one did so long enough to have me buy that CD. That implies some commitment to figure out if you like the music further down. For some reason I took few pictures. Perhaps I was just irritated at myself for having missed Staring Problem.  Well, Oaks did come all the way from Minnesota. Buying the CD was almost a hedge on a bet, a willingness to let the seed grow.  Just buy the bloody music. You don't know the true value until the blossom explodes with time or tripping the right wire. I don't recall listening to the music on the way home. That was a Saturday. The following Sunday later early after noon I get a call to help a friend deliver a hand made work of art humidor.
  It was this spontaneous Sunday after noon car ride adventure, my first time at Eric's new place, that tripped that wire. He transformed what he called "the museum of half-assed home repair" into this beautiful apartment you would want to live. He added value to the entire building. He uncovered and polished a diamond in the rough. Made the rough even look good. The rough became functional, and not a symptom of neglect. You would want Eric to do what he does to your place. As we were touring from room to room, the spark of wonder was on that band I saw with Population, and almost with Staring Problem.  It was amazing and it felt great to have been given the tour because this is my friend and I get to see this great side of him. Now I was ready to discover the awesome sounds of Oaks. And now I really wish I bought the shirt.
   
  The main differences with the two versions of Feathers. Hmmm, the self-titled CD version has more gears moving, more textures of sound. Demo version feels stripped down. Its not a complaint at all. I love both versions. They both have this cool dramatic start that for some reason reminds me of Bauhaus Bela Lugosi's Dead. Less instruments means more parking space for the instruments to bring their 70's muscle cars. Like driving at a moderate speed in the middle of a fog that occasionally recedes to allow you to speed up.  Now other songs are fascinating me. Fur Shadows, from their self-titled debut is fucking wow!  I'm discovering that I really like this band with each passing song, Save Sleep....hells yeah. They are brilliant. Admiring how Eric rebuilt the bathroom, so nicely you can picture yourself showering in bathtub. He put layers of bricks around, creating a deeper space while keeping this rugged look. This place he chose with all the mystery that he would uncover and then recreate, and it was the catalyst that compelled me to look at Oaks from Minnesota. Now I'm wishing them back so that I can buy that shirt finally.
Zig

Dream House

   Rani asked the crowd how many Siouxsie fans, crowd sorta responds, and she says hmm, "that's a quarter of you". That one got laughs. I wanted to make it to both shows, first Dream House and off and run and catch this other show with Stargazer Lillys at Burlington. You make the sequence of events play with a cool narrative voice.....I like Steve Coogan's to be honest. I've never been to this place in Berwyn, and that was part of the novelty. What's a Berwyn audience like? The Berwyn venue is nice, its like the space of three Whistlers. I sat at a small table in front. And wow, Rani really sounds like Siouxsie. I mean its scary, and impressive to have that in her arsenal.  Now having seen this its something to anticipate. Imagine this backwards. Having heard this would you not want to hear Rani's original work?
  Its never occurred to me with her previous band. Out of all the voices that I've said that about. "She sounds like Siouxsie", I've  never thought that with Rani. And here she's belting out "Switch", and she sounds spot on. Switch really isolates the voice. You either sound like her or fuck off.   It keeps the Siouxsie I've known since high school vibrant and now. There's a lot that you miss as you hear casually over the years.
  Briefly but still significant for me, I did go to Burlington and managed to talk to Sarah and Philly Peroxide. Its a drive north I don't regret when I get to bullshit around with them as well. I missed all bands but I was ok. One of the band members of Population was there and I had to show that I had on their shirt. I think he was as late as I.  I think I did ask him about how the show went. He is always a reliable witness and source, as with Sarah. It's looking like A Wonderful Spontaneous Halloween Charlie Brown, actually it turns out to be just like that.
  I did go and see everyone at Burlington but first I got to hang out with Dream House after in the green room. They are the coolest. Actually, I haven't seen them in quite some time. In seeing Dream House I see friends and their other original projects. I know Rani first on the cool dark noir Girl Detective and she's an artist. Sorry, I'm starting to sound like Chris Farley. That voice takes a while to tweek out.....Ami I know from Solemn Meant Walks.  I still want a SMW shirt. I love their video they recorded in Willow Springs! Hmmm, that last one even sounded better in that Steve Coogan voice. These friends of mine I am fortunate to call. All of them.
  You see one thing at a time and at the moment they are finished performing Siouxsie songs ....in the cycle of projects they got going. I took pictures of Rani and Ami. The one I took with them looks like I photo bombed my own picture. I thought I was smiling, seriously. I'm so fucking Victorian, I look as comfortable as Avril Lavigne at her own meet and greet. But I was having an excellent time. The conversation drifted into the band Population. The voice sounds to me like Sisters .....of Mercy only....I don't think I ever got around to saying that to Ami. I think that's who I was going on about Population and all. Then we talked about Selena....hmmm, I don't know how we drifted there, but we did.
Zig

Sexy Fights at Multikulti

 
  The Multikulti....my apologies for misspelling the name of the place. Its on the fourth floor of the building. I walk in and take the stairs up instead of the elevator. A fascinating venue to walk around in. There is a main room that seemed to have been used as a conference room. That's where the bands play, and there is also a separate smaller space where there is sometimes a DJ. In the corridor there is a food vendor. It smells nice. Did not buy any still. The floor seems to be in slight disrepair, well not the floor. Water drips from the ceiling near the women's washroom. I always wonder what the place was like before they turned it into a music venue. The view from the window where the bands perform is nice, facing east. I once saw Salem Bitch Trials there. For Sexy Fights and before them Spaces of Disappearance . It was my first time seeing them, finally. I must say it would have been an incomplete show without Spaces. I stroll in past 11pm Saturday, and wow I actually made it on time for both bands.
  
  
  I was finally glad to catch Spaces. They are local and active. While this was Sexy Fights first gig in about a year, Spaces have been busy. Easily this could have been my fourth time seeing them if I had been on time. I believe they played Frontwoman Fest at Burlington. Multikulti is actually a great venue to finally catch them in. It just feels like this unusual place.  Like its not supposed to be a music venue. The bands you catch there feel more special, more illicit.
  This was the second time seeing SF for me. I did not check the time for when they played but if I walked in after 11pm in time to see Spaces, Sexy Fights must have gone on close to 12 or past that. As they were setting up the singer looked tired, like she's been waiting. One hand holding her hip and all that. I only say that to acknowledge the effort the bands put in their shows. If I stroll in all fresh, perfumed and showered at a certain time, they have been there way the hell longer....and sometimes way the fuck longer.  Its the nature of it. I'm just glad the place has couches all over the back. When my friends from Killer Moon played I went so early, by the time they went on I watched from the couch all exhausted nearly half asleep. I arrived home close to 3 am at that time, but anyway back here to Sexy Fights, and what they sort of bring me back to.
  Disco music to me was something older relatives listened to during the mid to late 70's. They were at the right age, the right window of time for this to be their music. If you were just a child at that time, the imprint of disco would be fuzzy and perhaps idealized. To be at the right adult age means you experienced or witnessed the good and the bad. Its the shitty disco that has to remind you of the oil crisis of 1979. In the summer of that year, they had themselves a disco bon fire at Comiskey Park.  I still can't stand Disco Duck or the fucking disco version of Star Wars, or Fifth of Beethoven, and I was a kid then. But if you are a kid at the time, chances are you will filter all that out, until what you have left is that unreachable ideal. The lovely Ms Jordan Rose don't look nowhere near 40. Hell no one in the band does, and yet I'm effortlessly taken to that idealized, mythologized disco dance floor, with no rust of decay. Yet theirs is not a deliberate recreation. They are products of this time. I see them in the company of a whole lot of bands that at least for me have that refined modern disco sound. Golden Filter, Glass Lux, Glass Candy, Bring Your Ray Gun.....hmm, I know there where more. I list them here because I don't want to repeat this whole damn paragraph accidentally in the future for the next band that sounds remotely like disco to me.
Zig

The Sentinels

  Parking was such hell for this show at The Mutiny. I parked a good long hike away from the place, the whole time half believing that I missed The Sentinels entirely and arriving was just another training exercise. The walk to the venue was long.....fuck it. Training exercise, don't rush. I can split my ankle all over again on this ice on the sidewalk. I don't recall the cold being that much of a factor. A slight wonder lifted me to observe what I normally drive by, the businesses around Mutiny. The bowling alley, the record shops along Fullerton. This time I walked and observed. As it turns out, I was on time, at least for that. Adele...from Axons....played before....as Puritan Pine. I missed that.....that stung. I've noticed Adele in a lot of shows. Ever since that first time at Township. Sentinels were barely setting up. I think they just reopened Mutiny. I believe I walked in as uniformed firemen were inspecting the place. That would suggest The Mutiny is a dive bar that occasionally is really a dive bar. I wondered if they still have that huge ass urinal in the washroom. Here is where I first heard many bands. The Rosen Association, bliss.city.east. My last time seeing Salem Bitch Trials was there.
  The ceiling feels low, like the further you walk in the more in feels like it caves in on you. I have Sentinels 2011 release Music Of The Plesistocene as what I go back to retain the memory of seeing them. Yet I have not listened to that CD in a while. Not deliberately avoided, I just happened to lose track of them. So dry, unglamorous, and abrasive....wait, I'm saying that's a good thing. I went not to see if I like the band. I go because I'm already a convert. Effortlessly their sound naturally filters out common tags. I fondly recall my first time seeing them at Township I believe. A find I did not expect hours ago that night. The other moments are notable for their own reasons as well. I think Dan the Fan was at this Darkroom show of theirs that like next to nobody but ourselves went. For this night at Mutiny there was a massive crowd for them. Not so tight that I could not see my way to the front, but the crowd for Sentinels was good. I was happy for them to see them continue. I do see myself buying their new CD, I was too broke at that time of this gig.
Zig

Impulsive Hearts

  The wear is not apparent on her as she stands waiting for Impulsive Hearts. You almost feel guilty over strolling in all giddy and bubbly at 9pm. This was for Frontwoman Fest at The Burlington. And by the time Adele is standing right next to the stage and not on it, this means her set is long done...Axons was at 5pm!  There were many good bands that I missed that I tried not to think about.  And she's been here at Burlington since the sun was out. That is a marathon.  I knew there was a lorry full of awesome coming from around the corner when Adele....(AXONS) told me this her favorite song writer I believe. She was referring to Danielle Sines of Impulsive Hearts.  When someone says songwriter I assume the person likes what is heard, not just how its heard. So here Adele tells essentially "......my favorite songwriter, behold"  And right on cue is Ms Danielle. Wow....., it is the best to be standing right under this in a stage as small as Burlington.  The same reasons I liked The Long Blondes were present here. There is this foggy sonic perfume that to me feels nostalgic for 60's music and early punk. Hmm, sweet, messy and still dangerous. And so the brain cells that remembered The Long Blondes were trip-wired here.  I only saw the Blondes once. I recall the singer was so damn pale she glowed in the dark like phosphorus. Like being near a Chernobyl-walking tanning bed. But they had the sweetness of the 60's or what I can identify as such with the aggression and mechanics of punk.  It seems like a random memory photo bombing another. But in mentioning The Long Blondes I hope to put Impulsive Hearts in a welcoming neighbors. Bands at least to me are not remembered in isolation. Ideally I want people to look the bands up even they disagree with me. I got you looking. Anyway so hearing Impulsive Hearts I am  instantly transported to the feeling of surfing on Lake Michigan.  I get that summer feel....and it ain't just the last song.  I'm trying to recall separately the live experience imprint while building one just listening to the downloaded work. To use this metaphor, I'm mixing drugs.  Well, its actually the same drug. One is an edible and its effects and my ability to document slow. I don't recall which tracks I heard live. As soon as I got home, I downloaded....hmm injected. Every song Impulsive Hearts played was a snowflake unique and beautiful and impacting like a cave in of hell yeah. I was just left in a stupor of it. In the middle of moments I would glance at Adele to see what her expression foreshadows. Amelie enjoyed looking at the audience of movies I guess to see their unguarded expressions. I like glancing at this audience because they seemed to know and like who it was before them. I did not. I have seen the name of the band before. I know there were a number of times I could have seen them. Its really a wonder and a blessing to say that a lot of the music I collect is from bands I have seen perform live. For me each band is a codex that has to be preserved for the live culture the music is.
Zig