Pictured Kill Hannah
** The Redwalls at Schuba's, (773) 525-2508, Jan. 24
**Joanie Pallatto and Sparrow at Katerina's, (773) 348-7592, Jan. 26
**Scotland Yard Gospel Choir and Tenki at Metro, Feb. 10
** Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel at Chgo Cultural Center, (312) 744-6630, Feb. 20
** Manischevitz at Empty Bottle, (773) 276-3600, Feb. 28
**Tricia Alexander at Two Way Street Coffee House, (630) 969-9720, March 21
Everywhere you turn, it seems that its impossible to pick up a music magazine without reading about the currently hot music scenes, and the bands emerging from said scenes in New York (The Strokes, Interpol, The Rapture) and Detroit (The White Stripes, The Von Bondies). The Chicago music scene, with offshoots in insurgent country, house music, folk, and a thriving queer music community, appears to be more diverse and vibrant than it has been since the heyday of The Smashing Pumpkins, Urge Overkill, Veruca Salt and Liz Phair.
Two of the best recent releases, Universal Blues (Undertow) by The Redwalls and I Bet You Say That To All The Boys (www.sygc .com) by The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, wear their collective influences on their young and fashionable sleeves.
The Redwalls, a youthful quartet from a northern Chicago suburb, initiate a Beatles-era pop revival on its debut album Universal Blues. Musicians whose collective confidence and capabilities belie their age, The Redwalls are a corn-fed fab-four. Not surprisingly, the four lads have been signed to Capitol Records, and on the strength of Beatlesque songs such as 'Colorful Revolution,' 'You'll Never Know,' 'It's Love You're On,' and 'I Just Want To Be The One,' it is easy to understand why. The beautiful 'Home,' which diverts a bit from the Beatle influence, indicates that there are other hues to be found in The Redwalls.
If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, then Belle And Sebastian should be honored beyond words by The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir Song 'Jennie That Cries.' In fact, Belle & Sebastian ought to be blushing a bright red from the homage paid them by SYGC on songs such as 'Ellen's Telling Me What I Want To Hear,' 'Would You Still Love Me If I Was In A Knife Fight,' 'Bet You Never Thought It Would Be Like This' (featuring Nate Wolcott's wonderful trumpet playing), 'I Know A Girl,' and 'Fan Club.' So effortless is SYGC's ability to conjure the Scottish pop group that it is almost uncanny. Not limited to seamless impressions of Belle & Sebastian, SYGC also has a knack for creating their own brand of unique pop on tracks such as 'She Just Wants To Move,' 'Tear Down The Opera House,' the Dylanesque 'Mother's Son' (which benefits from the casual mention of Chicago locales) and the vintage New Order-like 'Topsy Turvy.'
Eleventh Dream Day, one of the heroes of Chicago's late '80ss/early '90s alternative rock scene, are the subject of a trio of reissues that attempt to perpetuate the legend and gain them the respect that they deserve. Prairie School Freakout/Wayne EP (Thrill Jockey) is a deluxe reissue of EDD's 1988 full-length album and 1989 follow-up EP. Sounding like a Midwestern version of Dream Syndicate and X (listen to the way that Rick Rizzo and Janet Beveridge Bean's vocals complement each and see if you don't agree), Television, Velvet Underground and Crazy Horse, EDD rocked with a raw and relentless energy. Also included in the reissue is an enhanced CD with video footage. Two of the three albums that EDD originally released on Atlantic, Beet and Lived To Tell (Collectors' Choice Music) have also been reissued and help to fill out the canon of this underrated quartet.
The music scene in Chicago is especially fertile at this point in time. Several bands that have been a visible presence in the live performance arena have released CDs. Key among these bands is Kill Hannah. A regular on the stages of Chicago's live music clubs, the band has recently released its major-label debut For Never & Ever (Atlantic). Everything about this disc shouts new-wave revivalist, from the androgynous vocals of Matt Devine to the album artwork to the band photo to the synthesized beats and keyboards on 'Kennedy,' 'Boys And Girls,' 'From Now On,' and 'Race The Dream.' But instead of being current, the songs sound somehow dated by a few years.
More in tune with current musical trends, Hey Mercedes creates catchy emo pop on Loses Control (Vagrant). Like Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Hey Mercedes takes advantage of their geography, both in their style and in their lyrics ('There's a phone call coming/From a ragged Romeo in Joliet' from 'Quality Revenge At Last'), giving emo a place to call its own in the Windy City.
It is the horns that set Tenki apart from its Chicago contemporaries. On its second album View Of An Orbiting Man (Future Appletree), Tenki wastes no time in reminding us of what a blast of brass can do to a song, as you can hear on 'Love Sick,' 'Lucky,' 'Kiss Of Millions,' 'Catherine The Great,' and 'SWSS (Subtle Work of Sun Spots)'. Perhaps my favorite recent local release is City Life (Jagjaguwar) by Manischevitz. It is easy to get drunk on this nine-track disc of shimmering pop music that sounds like Roxy Music if they had been from Chicago instead of England. Even the album's title is a Roxy Music (Country Life) reference. Also keep in mind the self-titled album by The Radio Hour (Setter and Spider) and Cedarland by Palaxy Tracks (Peek-A-Boo).
One thing missing from the above-mentioned discs is a female energy. Fear not, that situation is more than remedied by CDs such as the spiritual folk of Grace (Rampur) by Tricia Alexander, the garage girls rock of 3 (File 13) by The Dishes, the insurgent country swagger of Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel on Oh, The Stories We Hold (Undertow), the elegant pop of Postcard Stories (Double Zero) by Jenny Choi and Doctors Work (Tremor 10) by Irradio.
Jazz and improvisational music remain staples in the Chicago music diet. CDs such as the self-titled debut by Steve Evans (www.steve-evans.com), Canned Beer (Southport) by Sparrow & Joanie Pallatto, 5 by Town & Country (Thrill Jockey), Yes We Don't by Thelonious Moog (Grown Up) and Shoot In The Dark (Arms Reach) by Dakota Dakota provide a tasty buffet.