[caption id="attachment_25061" align="aligncenter" width="445" caption="Dastardly play Township on Wednesday night"][/caption] Welcome to Weekly Diversions! This is our new weekly show calendar in which we preview our local show picks for Monday through Thursday.

MONDAY

LEE RANALDO BAND The annual Downtown Sound: New Music Mondays kicks off at the Pritzker Pavilion today with a special appearance by Lee Ranaldo Band. Ranaldo is better known as the long-time guitarist and co-founder of Sonic Youth, and owner of probably the best song ("Walkin Blue") on Sonic Youth's likely last album together 2009's The Eternal. Ranaldo's 2012 solo effort Between the Times and the Tides offers the same experimental rock and pop that you would come to expect from Ranaldo, but that is never a bad thing. Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog will open. 6:00 p.m. Monday, 5/27. Pritzker Pavilion. All Ages. FREE.

TUESDAY

RUNNING The first few seconds of Running’s brutal assault on the track “I Can’t Believe I’m Alive” – off last May’s Captcha Records release Asshole Savant – unleashes a powerful avalanche of pure love and joy. Which I’ll admit is an odd feeling to arise from noisy punk rock song; yet, somehow, when those beastly drum beats and throbbing bass lines are coupled with tortured vocals and shrieking guitars at breakneck speeds, all the chaos melts away into a double rainbow of epic proportions. Also appearing tonight are Torture Love and Broken Water. 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, 5/28. Empty Bottle. 21+ $8

WEDNESDAY

DASTARDLY Our favorite folkers, Dastardly, have returned! This band of misfits will blast their rambunctiously playful tales of woe and whoa over the speakers for a good old fashioned hoedown. Also appearing tonight are the Cains & Abels, Teenage Rage, and Matthew Shelton. 9:00 p.m. Wednesday, 5/29. Township. 21+. $5.

THURSDAY

ELECTRIC HAWK Once upon a time, LLP’s cool uncle Ross Meyerson alerted us to the overall radness of math metal-ers Electric Hawk. The band brings the heavy, executing plenty of giant meanacing riffs, pulsing bass rhythms and thundering drum action with deadly precision. Also appearing tonight are Bear Claw, and Eric Chaleff and Bruce Lamont. 9:00 p.m. Thursday, 5/30. The Burlington. 21+ $7. By Audrey Leon  \  1 comment

The Quick Fix showcases the best of Chicago music news, views and stories from around the interwebs and blogosphere that we might have missed.

• • If you haven't seen it yet, the Riot Fest lineup this year looks pretty solid. In addition to amazing acts like Bad Brains, Motorhead, Dismemberment Plan, Dinosaur Jr, (Blondie for some reason?), there's also great local acts including The Lawrence Arms, Smoking Popes, Maps and Atlases, White Mystery, Twin Peaks, and Empires.
• • Brooklyn Vegan Chicago reports that a piece of Brooklyn is coming to Chicago, meaning that the Great GoogaMooga fest is likely to hit Lincoln Park in August.
• • The Reader reminds us that summer means a truckload of street fests are just around the corner, literally.
• • Kurt Vile played Lincoln Hall last week, and Gapers Block was there.
• • Windy City Rock has Secret Colours' new video for "Blackhole" up for your viewing pleasure.

By Audrey Leon  \  comments

Local alt-rockers Hospital Garden have returned to the scene with a new album and new single. The band's video for single "What to Do" shows the trio play some good ol' American football at the Jackson Prison Grounds in Jackson, Michigan. There's lots of tackling and feelings along the way. Personally, the golden retriever that comes out of nowhere is the best part of the video, but the song is definitely a close second. Hospital Garden will release its third album Mover on Forge Again Records next Tuesday, but you can see the band in action at its record release party this Saturday at Quenchers. By Audrey Leon  \  comments

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Where some bands are concerned, change can be a terrible thing, kind of like KISS without makeup. However, pulsating power punk trio The Cell Phones decided to pick up where they left off on their 2011 Hospital Spaceship EP and pack their brand new full-length, Get You Alone, full of grinding pop and punk numbers that fall somewhere between Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Death From Above 1979, but are as equally satisfying. From the first opening drum beats of the cheeky intro track "Heavy Flow" to the reverb-drenched closer "Out," The Cell Phones are working hard to propel you into movement. Each track pummels ear drums with hard and fast drum beats, and low and nimble bass notes. The dynamic only lets up to lull listeners into a false sense of security before dialing up the intensity. A few of the tracks on Get You Alone are not completely unknown to the Cell Phones fan base, as "Homoerotic," for instance, has been a part of the outfit's live shows for the past year and a half. However, Get You Alone's slick production adds a coat of polish, as well as a new sense of urgency, to the group's signature brand of chaos. One thing that definitely has not changed in the Cell Phones' dynamic -- and I hope it never does --  is the still unmistakable and completely tantalizing voice of lead singer Lindsey Charles. Get You Alone expertly showcases Charles' raw talent as she seductively croons and then erupts into a wall of earth-shattering wails at any given moment. Charles' voice is just as prominent an instrument as Ryan Szeszycki's throbbing acoustic bass solos or Justin Purcell's rapid fire and purely maniacal drum beats, on album highlights "French Door" and "$!". Forgive me for drawing parallel's to Get You Alone to No Doubt's Return of Saturn. But, hear me out. ROS was No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani's "grown up" record, where she detailed her logging for adulthood things like marriage and a family throughout an album-worth of songs. While things are not as sugar-coated on Get You Alone the album's title track is indeed addressed to Charles' "future husband." That's probably where the comparisons end, as Charles vocals are a notch above Stefani's California squeak. There's an age old saying, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." The Cell Phones' Get You Alone not only subscribes to this theory, the band proves why it is true. There's nothing wrong with deviating from the norm, but there's also nothing wrong with doing 'you' well. So you do you, Cell Phones. _________________________________________________________________ THE CELL PHONES SUNDAY, JUNE 23 PRFBBQ at BORELLI'S $30 (donation for 2-day pass). __________________________________________________________________ By Audrey Leon  \  comments

The Quick Fix showcases the best of Chicago music news, views and stories from around the interwebs and blogosphere that we might have missed.

• • NEW SHELLAC RECORD! AV Club has the details.
• • WBEZ's Jim DeRogatis confirms the musical lineup for this year's Taste of Chicago and it boasts some pretty big names including: Robert Plant, Neon Trees, Estelle, and fun.
• • The North Coast line up is also out and this year's headliners include Wu-Tang, Afrojack, and Nas. Locals JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound and ON AN ON are also playing.
• • Windy City Rock's Gene Wagendorf reviews Swedish psych-voodoo rockers GOAT, and it looks like it was a pretty sweet time.

By Audrey Leon  \  comments

The Quick Fix showcases the best of Chicago music news, views and stories from around the interwebs and blogosphere that we might have missed.

• • Gapers Block has the scoop on Reggie's new Wax On Wax Off weekly amateur DJ night.
• • Emo is back! In pog form, or something. The Village Voice created a list of 30 Emo Bands to Know that includes Chicago's own Into it. Over it.
• • Andra Kulans, of the 1900s, performed with Iron & Wine on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week. She's in the strings section. Also of note, that's Kelly Hogan singing back-up. Hell, the drummer even borrowed ex-Mannequin Men bassist Miles Raymer's hair.
• • The Chicago Reader's Gossip Wolf went gaga for Ga'an side projects this week (and last). They also have the details on the next Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence benefit.

By Audrey Leon  \  comments

The Quick Fix showcases the best of Chicago music news, views and stories from around the interwebs and blogosphere that we might have missed.

• • Though WBEZ's Jim DeRogatis broke down the 26 violations the city of Chicago found inside Logan Square's Congress Theatre last week, DNAInfo.com Chicago is reporting that the venue passed it's most recent inspection and will stay open.
• • Gossip Wolf raves about Lil Tits new tape Rat Mansion//Do it Til You Puke
• • Notes and Bolts celebrated their one-year anniversary podcast with none other than local rockers Mannequin Men, who discussed the group's beginnings including the still available Showbiz Witch record, and future plans.
• • DNAinfo checked out the scene at Laurie's Planet of Sound on Record Store Day.

By Audrey Leon  \  comments