Punk

Three Poppy Punk Chicago Bands to See This Month

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At a recent Swimsuit Addition show, someone turned to me and very sincerely asked “What if there are no rules anymore?” The four-piece sprawls over their music, and they’re in absolute control of evil beach punk.

Swimsuit Addition is celebrating the release of their new 7 song TANKS! EP with a free show at Emporium Barcade this Thursday, Dec. 11th. It’s great if they’re the only ones who know the rules.

Oh no, a pop punk band with fun synth bits who mention pizza. People do it, and Absolutely Not does it so much better. Their longest song is 2:39, but the number of stop-and-gape hooks they jam into each one is staggering.

They’re headlining a great (and free) Chicago Singles Club lineup at the Empty Bottle on Monday, Dec. 29th. If you don’t dance, you’ll be trampled.

The meanest band here, Meat Wave favors music that drives along non-stop until your chin is on the floor. Don’t worry, the payoff is consistent, and you’ll get up for more.

Go see them for a New Year’s Eve show at Reggie’s ($25-$30) before they kick off a U.K. tour. Then check back on their new EP landing around January 19th.

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New Year Bonus Round: Ian’s Party starts January 1st and ends on the 4th. All the bands mentioned here will be playing various venues around Logan Square. Even if you dive in with no direction, you’ll get a fistful of quality local music.

Thoughts from the Dugout: Rockin’ the Postseason

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Image of Kaufmann Stadium Rainout

Royals-Orioles was rained out last night. So here’s a filler column!

We’re three and two games into the respective League Championship Series, and already, it’s as if everything we expected (NLCS) and didn’t expect (ALCS) is happening. However, there are multiple things which I’m interested in writing about this year, so we’re expanding to another field I love – music. Specifically, rock music. Even more specifically, a completely arbitrary way to honor past acts with a designation which may or may not actually mean anything in the long run.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot was released last week, and it’s an interesting pool of candidates, bringing together a diverse and completely unrelated group of acts that may or may not actually have to do with rock itself. In order to fully analyze the ballot, I felt that the best way to do it was to look at their blurb on Wikipedia, listen to a song on YouTube, and then compare them with a player/manager from the four teams remaining in the postseason to which they (somewhat) relate. This is why I get my own column – sheer genius and ultra-spontaneous collaborations. Behold, my breakdown of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2015 ballot!

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