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. He also swears that it wasn't him who did that and has learned that "deny everything" is a basic tenet of existence.
There are power trios, and then there are POWER TRIOS. Ex Hex falls into the second CATEGORY. Mary Timony, Betsy Wright, and Laura Harris have much vaunted experience that would immediately throw […]
Love In October continues the trend of Sweden kicking out sparkling and infectious music. The two brothers at the core of the group, Erik and Kent Widman, relocated to the states in […]
If you read any 2018 year-end best of music lists—and since you’re here I’m guessing you did—you likely noticed Snail Mail near the top of many of them. It’s name under which […]
Brooklyn’s Charly Bliss are having the time of their lives. At least that’s the impression I’ve gotten every single time I’ve seen them played live. The Brooklyn quartet literally bounce off each […]
I don’t know how Peter Bjorn And John do it, but their latest album Darker Days manages to sound like winter while allowing a few slivers of sunlight to break through. And […]
Jonny Polonsky hasn’t lived in Chicago for a really long time, he currently lives in New York after a long stint in L.A., but we’ll always claim him as our own. The […]
The Smoking Popes opened up the Sunday show at The Aragon Ballroom half an hour before tickets even said bands would play. Luckily there were so many folks who showed up when […]
Let’s get this out of the way at the outset; I fucking hate The Grateful Dead. I made a concerted effort in my freshman year of college to like them. Albums. Bootlegs. […]
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 and latching […]
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 call ’em […]
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 stage, Trouble’s […]
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 that proved […]
