Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago

So, you may call chuckchuck the inspiration behind this post. he wrote me last week with some ideas for local bands that could play at Stadium West and, it got me to thinking,...being in the third biggest city in the US, it's likely that I know a mere fraction of the active and aspiring bands in my respective postal district.

Were Chicago ever to become a destination on the musical map at any point in the near future, it would probably serve that good if there were a community surrounding local bands. With music (everything) being much more globally-oriented with the advent of internet representation, I think regional/local music has kind of been scuttled under the rug...but I think it can still make a huge impression on the culture at large. I discuss that a bit in a recent review I published on No Age's new record, Nouns. You can read it here if you're so inclined. Anyway, the point is, I think there's a lot to be gained from fostering a more vibrant music community and, from Chuck's cue, I did a bit of research. How does one do local music research, you may ask? Well, it was really pretty simple. I started with the bands he mentioned and hopped from Myspace "Top 8" to Myspace "Top 8" looking for bands residing in or around the Chicagoland area. My yields were, in my opinion, pretty impressive.

This post is for the bands whose three or four-song Myspace demos I rather liked and am hoping to see them play live in the next couple of months. Please enjoy the following and come see them play with me. Support local music. Whoot!

Scalpels - villainously noisey, full of delay and spaced-out guitars, maybe my favorite of the bunch. Check out the track "Black Out." up my alley this be.

Bird Names - sloppy and goofy churned into a fine little hippie stew; hopelessly melodic and dorky.

Chandeliers - i'm throwing "dope" out there, as in "dope beats." and i mean it. I'm seeing these guys at the Empty Bottle on the 20th with Cluster and am plenty excited. Check out "Mango Tree." You'll be glad you caught these guys before they're all household and shit.

i could go on but am going to stop myself there so that i don't overwhelm you busy young chaps. let me know what you think!