Tankboy resides in the body of Jim Kopeny and lives in Mayfair with Pickle the Kitten and a beagle named Betty (RIP) who may actually be slightly more famous than most of the musicians slogging through the local scene. He's written about music for much longer than most bands you hear on the radio have even existed.
Ryan Allen’s previous bands Thunderbirds Are Now! and Friendly Foes were lauded but terribly under-appreciated. The through-line between all those projects was Allen’s uncanny knack for mining impossibly catchy hooks […]
The Dirty Nil are a trio out of Canada, but their noise is anything but polite. Most groups of this configuration mine the blues for source material—whatever you do, don’t […]
HotLips Messiah is a Chicago quartet well known for their raucous live sets, led by their mesmerizing singer Traci Trouble. In a band where every member is careening around the […]
Liz Phair‘s Riot Fest set a few weeks ago was a triumphant full band return to her hometown. It was preceded by a stripped down set at The Empty Bottle […]
Tove Styrke is striking. Stadium act in waiting. Don’t miss out dummy. Tove Styrke is a Swedish singer songwriter creating some of the most interesting electropop in years. She is […]
This year’s Riot Fest is a wealth of riches. Yup, that’s a cliché but it’s so true. When you’re done with your whining over this or that headliner going up […]
The last time Foo Fighters played Wrigley Field, Dave Grohl was confined to an oversized throne due to a broken leg. When the band returned July 29, Grohl was unfettered […]
How does one even write about Lollapalooza nowadays? I’ve been going to the festival since its inception in 1991, and have only missed a couple, during the fest’s darker years […]
O.K., I’ll admit upfront that headline is a bit histrionic. But The Phonographs don’t shy away from hyperbole. Anyone who drops Big Star and The Redwalls in their pitch to […]
Craig Wedren made his name in the influential Shudder To Think, a band whose distinctive and sometimes knotty sound still sounds fresh and new today. Over the years, though, he […]
Hoagie sent me the unmastered version of the album a few months ago, but the new Sonny Falls LP is finally officially coming out next month! I’ve written about the […]
Sloan is a band closing in on three decades of being together. In that time they’ve released 12 albums, flirted with stardom, and despite missing the industry-approved brass ring of […]