This weekend, we plan on getting Blacked Out at the Empty Bottle, do some Dumpster diving at the Burlington, make a Day of it at Cole’s and so much more.

Let’s do this…

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The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has now released the full lineup for the Downtown Sound: New Music Mondays summer concert series held annually inside Millennium Park. The department previously announced that the concert returns this May 28 through July 30.

Rounding out this year’s lineup are folk rockers Scott Lucas and the Married Men (May 28), Dub-punks The Eternals (June 11), experimental rockers Cloud Cult (June 18) and indie rockers Joan of Arc (July 2).

These new headliners will join other such previously announced headliners as alt-folk singer Kelly Hogan (May 28), quirky singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman (June 4), Chilean cumbia act Chico Trujillo (June 25), and soul singer Charles Bradley (July 16).

Get the complete line up after the jump.

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By Audrey Leon  \  comments

There’s nothing more pleasant than opening your inbox and finding the tasty new video for “Electromagnetic Force” by hard rockers The Wanton Looks. The song’s own playfulness lends itself to an equally cheeky video and this one definitely has a mid-90s MTV alt-rock video feel to it with the fabulous foursome primping and playing their tune in various locales around Chicago including Livewire Lounge. The sledgehammer bit at the end is also pretty rad. You can catch The Wanton Looks live and in person at Underground Lounge along with The Sonnets, Tiny Riots and Sky Road Fly on Thursday, April 19.

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Three “I hope you are thirsty because it is Thursday” reasons to head down to Empty Bottle tonight…

1. If there was one word to describe Chicago dream popper Architecture‘s When We Were Young EP, it’s enchanting. The trio of Rebecca Scott and Melissa Harris (also of the band Panda Riot), along with Erin Dorr, bewitches listeners with lush atmospherics, ethereal vocal harmonies and distressed guitars flourishes. Architecture’s low-key melodies are nothing short of magic. LISTEN: “in the morning“

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Three reasons to powder your leather pants and strut over to the Double Door tonight…

1. I first came across Hunx (Seth Bogart) back in his Gravy Train!!! days. There were plenty of colorful short-shorts and pom-poms to accompany the raunchy electro-punks’ performances. Bogart still dons the colorful, body-hugging outfits with his solo project Hunx and his Punx, but these days he’s pumping out fuzzy garage pop that is heavily styled by 50s doowop. It’s quick, dirty, sentimental and oh, so good. LISTEN: “Always Forever”

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Three “And now for something a little different” reasons to mosey over to Beat Kitchen tonight…

1. If you ever desire a little bit of fizzy pop flavor to accompany your bucket full of grinding metallic guitar riffs and brooding, beastly drum beats, then look no further than Chicago’s own Shotgun Zombie. The quartet display some of the same edgy experimental hardcore in which bands like Thrice specialized, but Shotgun Zombie also opt for a little bit of synthesizer action to cleanse the palate. It’s definitely fast, and its almost certainly furious. LISTEN: “Show me the Rulebook“

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Three cheers for the weekend! After a scorcher of a week, we’re in for a nice (slight) cool front. But it doesn’t get any cooler than this weekend’s lineup. Sure, that was a lame segue, but it doesn’t make the statement any less true.
We’re highlighting sweet shows featuring such artists as Blizzard Babies, Radar Eyes and Cursive.

C’mon ride the train…

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