Weekly Agenda: December 16th – 20th: Bail me out, here

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Ezra Rabin, of the Bay Area queercore band The Younger Lovers, has been released from jail! He was arrested December 13, 2014 during an anti-police demonstration in Oakland, CA. Known throughout the community for his work with Food Not Bombs and mural artwork, he drew lots of support for his bail fund and is back in the arms of friends.

If you’d like to support the bail funds of folks closer to home here in Chicago, please consider donating to free David “Iggy” Rucker, Alfredo Reyes, and Derrick Wince. Iggy and Alfredo were arrested at the #MillionMarchChi demonstration on Saturday Dec. 13; Iggy was badly beaten by police. Derrick was arrested and beaten after the police broke up a memorial vigil for Desean Pittman, a Chatham youth who was fatally shot by CPD.

dumpster tapes

In other, more trivial news: Dumpster Tapes is dropping a new compilation of the best local punk, garage, psych and surf. 25 tracks of homegrown rock’n’roll weirdness on your favorite lofi format in their largest run ever, a whopping 250 tapes.

Tuesday, December 16th

Unmanned Ship Live Jam Recording Session
Maximum Pelt is going to be recording Unmanned Ship for a limited edition cassette that they’ll be releasing in conjunction with a new 7″. Come kick back with a six-pack and contribute to the live vibe. If you can’t make it, make sure to get your RSVP in for the 7″ release show with fellow Wally’s favorites Vamos! and AM Stations.
Wally’s World
7pm / Free / Bring some beers

Mac Blackout Band, Fake Surfers, Potatoes
Local weirdo jazz punks and two touring bands from Detroit, all in the Burlington’s stinky womb.
The Burlington Bar, 3425 W Fullerton Ave
9pm / 21+

Wednesday, December 17th

SlayerKitty, Deadbeat, Regular Fucked Up People
Everybody’s favorite twee doom two piece (ok, you caught us, they’re the only twee doom two piece) brings their pink-pawed sludge to the Mutiny.
The Mutiny, 2428 North Western Avenue
9pm / Free / 21+

Velocicopter, Rat Hammer, Jolly Korea
Empty Bottle, 1035 North Western Avenue
9pm / $5 / 21+

Friday, December 19th

Yoko & The Oh Nos, The Boxers, MTVGhosts, 521 Briar
All ages? Wowee Zowie.
Martyrs’, 3855 N Lincoln Ave
9pm / AA

Tinkerbelles, Space Blood, Game Genie, Bow&Spear
The Burlington Bar, 3425 W Fullerton Ave
9pm / 21+

The Sky We Scrape, Rapids, In Exile, Bagheera
Quenchers Saloon, 2401 North Western Avenue
9pm / 21+ / $8

JD’s Revenge, Foul Tip, Orbit’s Tears, McFabulous
Multikulti, 1000 North Milwaukee Avenue
9:20pm

Saturday, December 20th

MAMA, Haki, The Sueves, Mac Blackout
The legend continues as this DIY house throws a very special holiday party with a very secret guest.
Young Camelot
9pm

The Brokedowns, Meat Wave, Rad Payoff, The Usuals
Heads up – we usually only do show listings for Chicago, but this show takes place in Elgin, a city I’m mostly familar with due to it’s proximity to the fictional town Lanford on the show Roseanne.
Dutch Inn West Inc, 36W610 Foothill Rd, Elgin, Illinois
8pm / $6 / 21+

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Weekend Agenda: December 11th – December 14th: New Blizzard Babies Video

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Local band Blizzard Babies (extremely local for me, since one of them is my roommate) have released a new video featuring a cameo from none other than their label mate Stephen Sowley of Fake Limbs as the most obnoxious customer ever.

Click through to the post to watch it. Put it on while you’re teasing your hair, putting on black lipgloss, and getting ready for a rad weekend of rock.

Thursday, December 11th

Swimsuit Addition (Cassette Release), Lil Tits, Donkey Hotel, The Burning Ponies
Fellow Store Brand Soda editor Emily and I will be there, proving we can indeed support local music in ways besides writing about it before falling asleep in front of a flickering Netflix screen.
Emporium Arcade Bar, 1366 North Milwaukee Avenue
8pm / Free / 21+

NONES, The Rubs, The Gold Web, La Cosa (ONO)
Skronky noise punks NONES and members of ONO promise a weird, disorientating, noisy night.
Door #3 (Double Door Basement), 1551 N Damen Ave
21+ / $5

Potions, Banal Anml, Videobug, Wadduppp Sonnn
Heavy Petting, 2840 N Warren
8pm / BYOB / Enter thru alley / Bring your bike inside

Friday, December 12th

Flesh Panthers, Mac Blackout Band, Legendary Wings, Gross Point
Show #20 for local DIY venue The Flowershop!
The Flowershop
8pm / $5 for touring band

Saturday, December 13th

Bugs and Rats, In Heat, Nubiles Instore
Permanent Records, 1914 West Chicago Avenue
6pm / AA / Free

Oozing Wound, Wishgift, DEN, Foul Tip
Things The Band Name “Foul Tip” Suggests to Me:
1. a virulent, untreated, crusty STI
2. illegal insider trading
3. a baseball coach telling his players how not to foul
4. when you break off pencil lead while sharpening a pencil and have to start all over
Cole’s Bar, 2338 N Milwaukee Ave
10pm / Free / 21+

Sunday, December 14th

Joust, MAMA, The Dumpster Babies
Singer/guitarist Kevin is back in town for this show, putting our chances of seeing him shirtless at some point in the evening at 200% percent.
Empty Bottle
1035 North Western Avenue
7pm / $5 / 21+

PeoplesTemple of America, Yeesh, Pink Bathrooms
Pink Bathrooms were the inspiration of the cover image for this post, which is actually Jayne Mansfield’s bathroom. I want to live in it.

Also, slightly topical: one time I did like three shots of Malört at Quenchers and threw up in a trashcan. I could have used a spotless, comforting pink bathroom right about then.
The Burlington Bar, 3425 W Fullerton Ave
21+

Todayshits Christmas
James performing a two hour holiday themed set definitely promises some harrowing performance art with a slight possibility of holiday cheer.
The Whistler, 2421 N Milwaukee Ave
Free / 21+

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Weekly Agenda: October 15th – October 18th: Tuff Meat

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I bought myself tickets to the King Tuff + OBNIIIs shows as soon as they were announced, months before the new King Tuff record Black Moon Spell came out or everyone heard about the shake-ups in OBN-ville, so I’m pretty stoked about this week. I’m gonna party at those shows and then get the fuck outta Chicago for a trip to House on the Rock’s annual Halloween exhibit, Haunted House on the Rock, with Store Brand Soda co-founder Hotdish Ramone.

Don’t be mad, though; we’re not abandoning you to your own little pop punk devices. We’ve put together plenty for everyone staying in Chicago to do this weekend, including an impressive array of DIY shows + instores for those of you looking to save a little money or skate by with an expired driver’s license.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15TH

Slushy, Sneaky Creeps, Earring, Vaguewaves
Wally World
9:05pm / 21+ / Don’t be a jerk or smoke inside

Eye Vybe DJ Night
Karissa of Eye Vybe Records will be spinning some hard-hitting noise rock, psych punk, biker lounge, deep space, and power rawk.
The Owl
2521 N Milwaukee
21+ / Free

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16TH

Ultimate Painting, Negative Scanner
Permanent Records
1914 W Chicago Ave,
Chicago, IL 60622
6pm / BYOB / AA

King Tuff, Cassie Ramone, The Lemons
How are you guys feeling the new King Tuff? At first I was like “whoa, this is super overproduced; since when are there layered vocals and female backup singers on a King Tuff record?” But on subsequent listens, I decided that lofi freak-folk is overrated and I’m kind of digging the overblown T. Rex rock-n-rollness of the whole thing.
Subterranean
2011 W North Ave
17+ / $15

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17TH

Vamos, Meatbodies
Last time I saw Meatbodies was at The Burlington. Instead of the stinky concrete bunker of a back room they played right inside the door, lit by a single heavy duty construction flashlight, against wallpaper patterned like the woods. It was incredibly loud and intimate and the drummer had a cool thrash metal thing going. My girlfriend at the time bought me a shirt that I have since lost.
Permanent Records
1914 W Chicago Ave,
Chicago, IL 60622
6pm / BYOB / AA

Hunters
Bric-a-Brac Records
3156 W Diversey, Chicago IL
5:30 / BYOB / AA

Peekaboos, Bad Bad Meow, Glad Rags, Elusive Backflip
Multikulti
1000 North Milwaukee Avenue
21+ / $7

Unmanned Ship, Beth Israel, Mumblr, Vamos
VAMOS IS SO GOOD YOU GUYS, THEY ALWAYS MAKE ME FEEL LIKE MY PANTS AREN’T TIGHT ENOUGH
Wally World
9:05pm / Donations

OBNIIIs, Meatbodies, Hunters
Word is that Austin’s Orville Bateman Neeley III kicked everybody out of the band and it’s a whole new line-up and a whole new sound and they’re not going to play any of their old songs so don’t ask? We’ll see, I guess.
The Empty Bottle
1035 N. Western Ave
21+ / $10

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18TH

Gringo Starr, Slushy, Juicy James
Juicy James is one of the many pseudonyms of James from The Lemons/Todayshits/etc, who wrote the song I get in my head whenever I eat pizza for the fifth time in a week (“every day I eat ya, pizza, pizza, pizza.”)
Bric-a-Brac Records
3156 W Diversey, Chicago IL
4:00pm / BYOB / AA

Apache Dropout, The Sueves, Son of a Gun
Apache Dropout has a song about Archie (like, the redhead from Riverdale) as the leader of an undead army of zombies, so that’s pretty much all you need to know about them.
Cole’s Bar
2338 N Milwaukee Ave
Free / 21+

Van Buren, The Flaccids, Ezra Furman, Bloodhype, Bricklayers Foundation
Help Fury Frat House raise money to repair their PA and soundproof their basement!
Fury Frat House
Armitage+Whipple / Ask a Punk / Donations

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Tuesday Agenda: Please, Please, Don’t Tease Me

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You guys don’t even know how stoked I am to finally see Rich Hands. I’m really into their debut album Dreamers; it’s pure throwback pop perfection, influenced by 60s doo-wop and classic R&B with enough garage fuzz and swear words mixed into the simplistic, infectious lyrics to keep things interesting. They’re touring in support of their new album Out of My Head, released by Detroit’s Fountain Records, and with an excellent line-up of local supporting bands at The Burlington tonight it’s obviously going to be a fucking party.

The Rich Hands, Slushy, Uh Bones, Flesh Panthers
What’s up with The Burlington booking actually decent line-ups lately? And then making everyone start at like 8:45 or something stupid like that? The world may never know. Anyway I will be here double-fisting PBRs and whiskey for sure so come say hi.
The Burlington
3425 W Fullerton Ave Chicago 
$6 / 21+

Screaming Females, Pujol, Tenement
Screaming Females are awesome. Marissa Paternoster, the lead singer, is a badass (who also performs solo as NOUN) and radical queer and really good comic artist, actually.
Logan Square Auditorium
2539 N Kedzie Blvd

Lil Tits, Kisser, Slayer Kitty, The Baby Magic
This is going to be an extremely weird show. I got the Max Pelt released Slayer Kitty tape off Magic Ian the local tape fair at Cassette Store Day, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard; lofi twee doom? It sounds like metal made by fuzzy baby animals.

I saw The Baby Magic a couple of weeks ago and it was the most intense, bizarre performance I’ve ever seen. First time I’ve ever had someone flash me their genitals at The Burlington.
Walleye World
9:05pm / 21+ / Donations / No Jerks / Ask a Punk / Whatever

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Tuesday Agenda: Billionaire Brooklynite Black Metal

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Foul Tip, Frankie Teardrop, The Sueves
Minneapolis rock-n-rollers Frankie Teardrop are cute and sloppy and sing songs with names like “Pizza Lyfestyle” and you should definitely see them at Bric-a-Brac or at The Mutiny today. Two chances! No excuses!
Bric-a-Brac Records & Collectibles
3156 W Diversey Ave
6:00pm / Free / AA

White / Light, Liturgy
What’s more metal than being the grandson of a conservative Republican oil tycoon? Kittens, sunshine, and raindrops on roses, to name a few examples.

Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, singer and oil heir, has reunited with the other three musicians behind Liturgy’s debut album for their first tour in years. They’re playing Land & Sea Department, a performance space and music studio owned by the ampersand-obsessed business group behind Longman & Eagle and Parson’s Chicken & Fish. The space is like a luxe, soulless warehouse venue with all the reclaimed wood and tattooed bartenders you’d expect to come with all the frozen negroni money. I’m not going to lie, through, it’s kind of nice to encounter bathrooms that clean at a show.
Land & Sea Department
3124 W Carroll
8:00pm / $10 / Tickets

The Sueves, Frankie Teardrop, The Rubs, Supermagical (formerly White Gold)
The Mutiny is the real life version of the bar that the preppy protagonist in an 80s movie accidentally stumbles into, and a bunch of stringy-haired drunks and leather-clad metalheads growl threateningly at him, and then they all end up doing shots and singing songs together. Let’s make that happen tonight.
The Mutiny
2428 North Western Avenue
9:00pm / 21+

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Weekend Agenda: Kegs & Cassettes

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Friday, September 26th

Grosse Pointe, Supermagical This kegger house show promises a HELLO KITTY MOON BOUNCE. Seriously. If “kegs of beer” and “Hello Kitty moon bounce” aren’t enough for you: we have absolutely nothing in common. All the same, hopefully performances by garage punks Grosse Pointe and The Band Formerly Known as White Gold (who recently had a run-in with a band with the same name, hence the moniker switch) are enough to sweeten the deal for your miserable, fun-hating heart. Bring $5 for a bottomless solo cup and don’t puke in the moon bounce, jerk.
Ask a Punk for Location
9pm / $5

Hotlips Messiah, Mac Blackout Band, Ufux, Vortex, Potlucks
Two Mac Blackout bands on one bill? HARDEST WORKING MAN IN SHOW BUSINESS RIGHT HERE, PEOPLE.
Township, 2200 North California Avenue
21+ / $5

Chicago Singles Club Presents: Cassettes on Tape, Hollow Mountain, BIGJOY
Once a month, CSC produces an exclusive, original recording and video interview with a different independent Chicago artist. Also once a month, they host a night at Cole’s where some of their faves perform. We’re big Hollow Mountain fans over here at Store Brand Soda, so go check em the fuck out!
Cole’s Bar, 2338 N Milwaukee Ave
21+ / free

CLICK HERE FOR SATURDAY & SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE

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Sitting in the Park Forever: Bob Abrahamian Memorial Record Hop this Friday

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Earlier this year, soul and music history fans across the country were saddened to hear that Bob Abrahamian of SittingInThePark.com had taken his own life. Bob was a passionate record collector and deejay who was known for his endless knowledge of Chicago South Side soul as well as his kindness. Elderly African-American musicians, forgotten by most and preyed upon by exploitative recording contracts and unscrupulous record collectors, found a friend in Bob; he would pay them fair prices for their collections, track down lost recordings, listen to their life stories, and even help them with practical issues like housing and navigating a new confusing digital world.

Jake Austen (Roctober, Chic-a-go-go, Promontory) wrote a moving and beautiful profile of Abrahamian for the Chicago Reader. After learning that Bob’s family needed funds to properly archive his immense collection of music, photos, interviews, and ephemera, he organized a funky night of soul performances at the Empty Bottle’s sister club in Hyde Park, The Promontory. A $10 donation is requested.

Friday, September 26th – 8pm @ The Promontory
Sitting in the Park Forever: Bob Abrahamian Memorial Record Hop
w/ Windy City Soul Club and appearances by Reggie Torian (The Impressions), Cliff Curry (The Notations), Doug Shorts (Master Plan, Inc), Keni Rightout (Center Stage), Holle Thee Maxwell

Click here for descriptions of the performers, and spit shine your dancing shoes.

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Baby Magic Record Release Tonight with Swimsuit Addition, Lil Tits, and The Cellphones

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There was a time when I was going to The Burlington all the time. It was winter, and the proximity to my home cut the navigation of iced-over pot-holes to a necessary minimum. The beer was cheap and the decent local punk bands played damn near every day.

Over time, though, it began wearing on me. The band I came to see would have three terrible openers, all suburban bands who’d invite their friends, screaming drunk college kids who would start inane conversations with me at the bar and leave before the headliner. Breaks between bands would drag to forty minutes. And, perhaps worst of all, the pitch black and damp of the backroom would breed a particular funky smell; the smell of your elementary school cafeteria on a rainy day, all moldering mackintosh coats and sweaty feet in rubber boots.

“Something smells like dirty Cheetos. I think it’s my feet,” the singer of Potty Mouth mused over the mic one night. “No, it always smells like that!” I called back, helpfully.

Sometimes, though, even the darkest, dirtiest dive surprises you. I saw a mind-blowing set by Meatbodies in the front bar a few months ago, a titanic explosion of thrash and squall. And sometimes the line-ups leave no room for error, like tonight’s stellar offerings.

My cute boyfriend, Tom from Dumpster Babies, did the artwork for the new Baby Magic record, so pick up some blood-red vinyl and pat him on the back on a job well done. Chill out with Patrick Cosmos DJ’ing vinyl in the front room. Get carried away on the overwhelming vocals of The Cellphones. Let Lil Tits rip your eardrums out, and lick your wounds to Swimsuit Addition’s darkwave pop. And buy me a beer.

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Pure Joy All-Ages Scavenger Hunt This Sunday

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Pure Joy, the all-ages performance space and community center that’s been in the works for several eons now, is hosting a scavenger hunt to benefit the space. Throw a little cash into their coffers and compete for fabulous punk rock prize packs this Sunday at the Logan Monument.

Show up at the moment by 12:30 the day of the race to register your up-to-five-member-team ($5 per person, $20 max per group) or pre-register here. The race will start at 1:00, end at 3:00pm, and from 3:00-4:00 they’ll be announcing the winners of the hunt and the raffle.

All ages venue space is so important! Check the Facebook event out here!

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