Latest blog headlines Some September show picks (9/04/2008 13:35:13 PM) Gearing up for the Hideout Block Party (9/04/2008 13:30:03 PM) Angie wishes she was this cool: Joan As Police Woman (9/04/2008 13:27:24 PM) Brian Wilson, "That Lucky Old Sun" (Capitol) [1 STAR] (9/04/2008 09:28:32 AM) Demo2DeRo: El Segundo (9/04/2008 09:27:23 AM) Fall Music Preview (8/28/2008 15:09:19 PM) Demo2DeRo: Doppler Shift (8/27/2008 15:53:29 PM) The Walkmen, "You & Me" (Gigantic) [1.5 out of 4 stars] (8/27/2008 15:51:23 PM) Hell hath no fury like Jonas fans scorned (8/26/2008 08:52:11 AM) Ben Weasel: His brain hurts (again) (8/22/2008 23:01:38 PM)
When it comes to the great romantic narratives of rock history, few are more enduring -- or consistently untrue -- than "Brian is back." Every few years, ever since Beach Boys auteur Brian Wilson first fled the spotlight amid a haze of drug and mental problems after the undeniable peak of "Pet Sounds" (1966), one group of allegedly well-intentioned friends and musical collaborators after another has come forward to herald the return of the genius, from the vile Mike Love (who actually wrote a song called "Brian's Back" for a failed comeback in the late '70s) to the controversial psychologist Eugene Landy (who managed Wilson and co-wrote his songs during the failed comeback in the late '80s) to his current coattail rider, Hollywood hack Scott Bennett.
Formerly the Box Bruisers, El Segundo now boasts a new and cooler name (as in "I Left My Wallet in ... ") to go along with the new and cooler lineup. Guitarist Rich Hay, vocalist Brandon Salmans, bassist Kevin Lopez and drummer Chuck McAuliffe play a ferocious but tuneful brand of old-school punk with equal measures of garage drive and metallic edge. It's a familiar sound, of course, but in addition to the accomplished musicianship and a strong ear for melody amid the din, El Segundo rises above the pack courtesy of Salmans, a pudgy, balding, funny and self-effacing front man who brings heaping doses of unique personality to the proceedings, onstage as well as on the raucous sampling of tunes posted on the group's Web site, myspace.com/elsegundochicago.
Jim DeRogatis: For music fans, fall is exciting for two reasons: The concert scene moves back indoors to clubs, theaters and arenas — where the sound and surroundings are always preferable to those at outdoor sheds and big summer festivals — and the record companies flood the stores with their most anticipated releases of the year.
Demo2DeRo: With just enough rock aggression and rhythmic raucousness to appeal to this generally jazz-averse rockist, Doppler Shift was formed in 2004 to explore the intersection of jazz, funk, rock and experimental music at their most extreme. The band more than holds its own on “Resistor,” the group’s extremely impressive second album, released last March on the local indie IZM Records.
Jim DeRogatis: The inevitable ascendance of the Jonas Brothers as the male tween-pop phenomenon of the moment was obvious when the group opened for Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus on her massive tour late last year. The brothers crooned, cooed, spun and jumped, but "discreetly libidinous" was the only impression the Broadway-trained, closeted Christian trio from Wyckoff, N.J., made on me that night, and the 11-year-old Hannah/Miley fan beside me wasn't much more enthusiastic.
As you might expect from a band named for one of the most iconic songs on the most famous of all officially untitled fourth albums, the Chicago quartet Blackdog gives a whole lotta love and then some to Led Zeppelin, which ranks first and foremost on a list of classic-rock heroes that also includes Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Yet while this can be a dire thing indeed in the hands of mere mortals or copycat wannabes in the Lenny Kravitz mode, thunder god drummer Andrew Elbert, bassist Jason Segal and guitarists and vocalists Antony Ablan and Sam Reicher have both the chops and the bluesy, boozy joie de vivre to pull off the sound and the stance in a most convincing way.
Jim DeRogatis: On the list of underground legends of Chicago rock, few bands rank higher than Screeching Weasel. Formed in the mid-'80s in suburban Prospect Heights by childhood friends Ben Foster, better known as Ben Weasel and the group's vocalist and primary songwriter, and John Pierson, aka Jughead, punk guitarist extraordinaire and sometimes co-songwriter, Screeching Weasel was the punk band that made it cool again to embrace bubblegum melodies -- the missing link between the Ramones and the Buzzcocks and pop-punk's modern-day platinum-selling heroes Green Day, Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy.
Jim DeRogatis: It's not easy being Eddie Vedder. An indie-rocker at heart, the Evanston native became the second biggest rock star of his generation -- after only Kurt Cobain, of course, and look what happened to him. Though Vedder has a wide range of musical interests, the majority of the singer and songwriter's fans remain wed to the arena-friendly classic-rock that has only ever been part of his story.
After four widely acclaimed albums in the hip-hop underground, Aesop Rock set out to do something different with "None Shall Pass," his 2007 release for New York's renowned Definitive Jux label.
Peckenpaugh doesn't quite have the vocal chops to pull off everything he tackles -- it would be interesting to hear him collaborating with a really strong and dynamic singer, a la Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet -- but his music is well worth checking out on the Web at www.myspace.com/scottpeckenpaugh. He'll also be performing live during a free afternoon of art and music at the 3160, 3160 N. Clark, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Jim DeRogatis: For nearly three decades, the Ex has been one of the most revered names in the rock underground. An "avant-ethno-improv-punk band" from the Netherlands, as their Chicago label Touch and Go describes the quartet, it is second only perhaps to Sonic Youth in terms of stretching the envelope and refusing to recognize any limits for what rock 'n' roll can and cannot do.
Jim DeRogatis: Sitting at the defense table in Judge Vincent Gaughan's courtroom on June 13, an emotional R. Kelly greeted the news of his acquittal on charges of making child pornography with the simple statement, "Thank you, Jesus." The Chicago R&B superstar hasn't uttered a word in public since.
At its best, the group conveys a New Wave sneer and icy sexuality reminiscent of Blondie or the Cranberries, though it can also veer a little too close to Pat Benatar's cheesier metal side. Hopefully, producer Marc McClusky has toned that down on the new disc and emphasized the band's strengths; the demos posted on its MySpace page, myspace.com/marizen, bode well in that regard. You also can keep track of the group's upcoming live schedule at www.marizen.com.