Three look-my-glasses-slip-down-my-sweaty-nose-and-that’s-a-new-experience-for-me reasons to towel off and then head right back to the Empty Bottle tonight…
1. So I guess Sweden isn’t all about black metal. Wildbirds and Peacedrums hail from the hotbed of extreme metal but somehow have chosen a different, yet oddly similar, path. The similarities are in the creepiness of their orchestral pop. The dark imagery might not be there nor the cardboard drums and poorly mic’ed vocals but one wouldn’t be surprised to hear a song like “Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood” playing along to slow motion footage of a church burning to the ground. See, I can make anything about metal.
Three this-is-being-written-before-all-the-coffee-has-been-consumed reasons to ignore the lack of focus and just head on over to the Empty Bottle tonight…
1. Let’s hear it for loud! New York’s A Place To Bury Strangers make music to be heard above the hustle and bustle of New York. The thing is, it’s not in the traditional way. Sure, guitars squeal to massive distorted levels but this is pure 80′s electronic psych. Specifically, imagine if J Mascis were obsessed with Love and Rockets and wanted to make an ear bleeding version of “Express”. If you’re imagining this you’re probably hearing something close to A Place To Bury Strangers. Psst. You could just go to the link above and hear the real thing for yourself and then, you know, go see them tonight.
It’s been a big week for these kids as they just played the Empty Bottle on Monday after touring the East coast for a month, and now we get to feature a song from the up coming not yet titled second full-length.
“Arms They Speak” is quintessential Ga’an as it starts out like something from a John Carpenter movie and gradually builds layers and oomph while Lindsay Powell chants and bellows words unintelligible over the whole thing.
There’s a tendency to want to call keyboard driven psych Krautrock for some reason but this is far more sinister than anything those wacky Germans gave us in the 70′s. It also plain rocks and features a bell! Behold: Ga’an – “Arms They Speak”
The release date for the album, featuring the streamlined lineup of Seth Sher (of Psychic Steel and Oakeater, formerly of Coughs), Lindsay Powell (of Fielded and Festival), and Tyson Torstensen (of Magical Beautiful and Night Terror) is “late June,” but a limited edition cassette should be available now.
Three back-to-work-for-all-of-you-lovely-people reasons not to fret because it’s already Tuesday, and there’s a show for you tonight at Reggies…
1. Right right right. I probably should be writing up the Melvins show but it’s two nights so I’ll let a colleague tackle it if they choose. I’m going to steer you towards this Marduk show. It’s been far too long since some good old Swedish black metal came our way. A little more melodic than your typical black metal, what Marduk sacrifice by “producing” their records and such they more than make up for with their over the top antagonistic lyrics. So they have that going for them.
Three just-talking-about-the-weather-see-and-it-is-lovey reasons to bb the shit out of that q and then head over to the Empty Bottle tonight…
1. The mighty Ga’an will be rearing their creepy heads. Finally with a proper debut, the self titled…wait for it…”Ga’an”, which consists of material that’s been floating around since 2009, Ga’an are poised to slowly ooze their way to the top of our city’s proggy psych scene. I mean, no one sounds like Ga’an. They combine good old Krautrock with Goblin like horror movie keyboards and cover it all in vocals that at times are oddly heart felt while also being totally detached and trance inducing. That’s our Ga’an.
Old school-ish metalheads Old Ironsides have just recently released their debut The Path Of Madness.
And, although I once upon a time called them Iron Maiden fronted by Vince Neil, this mere 10-song album hits on so many levels and styles that those words now only make up a small part of the story.
For clarification check out the epic “March To War” and its almost boogie foot stomping beat and Middle Eastern tinged guitars. That is before it bursts forth with tasteful guitar licks and double bass goodness. Look, it’s twelve minutes long. I’m not going to take you through every twist and turn but know it’s worth your time. So, clear some space on your day planner and, you know, crank it up:
Three despite-my-natural-swarthiness-I-still-got-a-ridiculous-sunburn-yesterday reasons to wear sunblock, dear readers, and then head to the Viaduct this very evening…
1.The Rumble Chicago is back with a new venue, the aforementioned Viaduct Theater, and three new local favorites. You may be aware that we here at Loud Loop Press are proud sponsors of this event. We share this pride with Reckless Records, Creamteam, Harmon Drive, TheFiveThreeSix.com, Giant System and Eyes & Ears Entertainment. You might call that a mighty alliance. Or just a bunch of local music nerds that want to do whatever they can to spread the word about Chicago’s slightly underground scene. That’s neither here nor there. What isn’t are the bands so let’s get to them, shall we?
Again, it’s the mighty 
Have you got twelve minutes to kill? Super.
Three despite-my-natural-swarthiness-I-still-got-a-ridiculous-sunburn-yesterday reasons to wear sunblock, dear readers, and then head to the Viaduct this very evening…
