list.in.to.chicago this week: 03.30.2009

If you're wondering what the other four records are in my top five of 2009 to date -- as referenced in the Morrissey listing -- they are ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jeff "Tain" Watts and Joshua Redman.

Pick of the week
I'm a little surprised that Morrissey (Saturday at the Aragon) hasn't sold out, so yeah, go see that. And if you like electropop, that pair of shows from Ladytron and The Faint (Friday and Saturday at Metro) will be right up your alley. I think a whole night of bloops and bleeps would drive me crazy, but that's me.

list.in.to.COZ
Vaughan's. Tuesday. It'll be fun. Really.

Recap
It's been a while since I saw Regal Standard, which was remedied on Saturday night at Martyrs'. The two most noticeable things were that frontman Larry Schroeder seems to have shed a lot of his onstage nervousness, and that Jason Narducy's voice and guitar fit in pretty much exactly as well as I expected. Narducy took the lead on probably three or four tunes, despite having that flu bug that seems to be hitting one out of every three people I know. It dawned on me too late that with Bob Mould -- who produced at least the first Verbow record, if I remember correctly -- in town for a Sunday night show, I should keep an eye out for him in the club.

I didn't really get a good read on headliners Pronto, as I got sucked into conversation and ended up being "that guy" who talks through the entire set. I definitely heard the Wilco influence, and something about Mikael Jorgensen made me think of Nick Lowe, but it may have been the way he carried himself on stage.

3.30   monday
Cute Is What We Aim For with Meg and Dia, Breathe Carolina, Every Avenue, Anarbor (House of Blues)
With a name like that, I kind of wish they were a metal band.

3.31   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
As if there weren't enough reasons to join us for some casual cover tunes and the occasional original song, pizzas are half-price.

4.01   wednesday
The Mountain Goats with John Vanderslice (Epiphany)
The current indie rock scene has gotten to the point where these two acts almost serve as harbingers of a movement, paving the way for the likes of Death Cab for Cutie the way, say, Mudhoney and The Pixies set the stage for Nirvana and Pearl Jam in the grunge era.

Seal (Civic Opera House)
Some serious modern soul in a slightly unconventional venue. I haven't kept up with Seal's recorded output lately, but I suspect he hasn't rocked the boat from the kind of music that gets the boat rockin' in more of a "don't come knockin'" sense.

The Spinto Band with The Rural Alberta Advantage (Schubas)
I've seen them once, opening for Art Brut and We Are Scientists, and they came out and danced a bit during Art Brut's set, I think, which has given them the permanent association with the dwarves that come onstage during "Stonehenge" in This Is Spinal Tap.

4.02   thursday
Michael Schenker Group with Enuff Z'Nuff, Dove Doppler (House of Blues)
This is a great chance for amateur social anthropologists to study the aging heavy metal fan as he (or she, but let's face it, it's probably a he) emerges from his parents' basement for a rare journey in from the suburbs with every button on the radio set to WLUP.

4.03   friday
The Chick Corea/John McLaughlin Five-Peace Band (Chicago Theatre)
This is quite the jazz supergroup, with Christian McBride on bass, Brian Blade on drums and Kenny Garrett on saxophone. Based on those three, I'm guessing it'll be more traditional jazz than the old-school fusion you might expect from the co-leaders' early days with Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra, respectively.

The Gaslight Anthem with The Heartless Bastards, Good Old War (Bottom Lounge)   SOLD OUT
The two top bands on this bill have been pretty popular over on eMusic in the last couple of months, with Gaslight Anthem reminding me a bit of Arcade Fire as played by Bruce Springsteen, or maybe vice-versa, although the net result might just be a better execution of Sam's Town from The Killers.

Ladytron with The Faint, Telepathe (Metro)
The British band is in town for a pair of shows. As with any electropop band, I'll be curious to hear how they approach all the electronic textures live. Some bands will use triggers, some will replace electronic tracks with conventional rock and roll instruments, and some will just take the easy way out and use a ton of pre-programmed tracks.

4.04   saturday
Morrissey with the Courteeners (Aragon Ballroom)
The former Smiths frontman has a new album, Years of Refusal, that's in my top 5 for the year to date. Largely, that rides on the strength of Matt Walker's propulsive drumming, which gives the album a really aggressive foundation upon which to build.

The Faint with Ladytron, Telepathe (Metro)
If the Metromix listing is to be believed, it's the same show as Friday with a switch of headliners. The Faint are like Ladytron, but from Nebraska, where breathy female vocals are harder to find, apparently. The sound is a bit more lo-fi, including what occasionally sound like real, live drums, and there's a more intense, meditative vibe, where Ladytron comes across as more pop.

No Empathy with Not Rebecca, The Sass Dragons, Bread and Bottle (Empty Bottle)
This show celebrates the 20th anniversary of Johann's Face records.

4.05   sunday
The Ting Tings with Hottub (Metro)   SOLD OUT!
I was really impressed with this duo when I saw them last year at Lollapalooza. There's an infectious energy in their performance, to the point where it looked like they had taped over the knobs on Katie Smith's guitar so she wouldn't smash them to bits. I saw some reviews of that show that accused her of not really playing, but it looked like she was actually looping some parts through her pedal board. There definitely were backing tracks in their somewhere, but the end result worked and worked well, so I'm not inclined to care.

Pelican with Tombs, Harpoon (Empty Bottle)
The Wikipedia entry says that this formerly local instrumental metal band -- I've seen them compared to Isis, and have made that comparison myself -- has since relocated to Los Angeles, so there are probably fewer chances to see them in town.

Steve Earle with Allison Moorer (Old Town School of Folk Music)
The alt-country rebel is another great "get" for the Old Town School.