coffin pricks

In a world filled with dubstep DJs and party rock anthems, Chicago punks Coffin Pricks are standing tall under the banner of “unchill wave.”

Coffin Pricks take a page or two from bands like Mission of Burma and Husker Du by displaying speed and agility while maintaining a minimalist punk approach. Because of this, the lead track on the group’s recent EP, “Group Home Haircut,” isn’t overly intimidating. There’s enough melody and catchy guitar parts to compel listeners to dance while the back beats crackle at their feet.

If “Group Home Haircut” sounds like a weary, but wise old track, maybe it’s because Coffin Pricks themselves have seen and heard it all while playing in previous bands such as Ignition, Maximum Wage, Daylight Robbery, and Bob Tilton.

Coffin Pricks are releasing its brand-new EP Group Home Haircut on Tuesday, May 15, through Stationary (Heart) Records. It’s limited to 300 copies and will feature artwork by none other than John Herndon of Tortoise.

Coffin Pricks will celebrate the EP’s release at Subterranean this Thursday, May 17, along with Summer Girlfriends, Radar Eyes and Hollows. Tickets are $8.

“Cartoon Paper Cup” kicks off with a tight drum intro and bouncing bass line before metallic guitars riffs rip through the mix. The song’s perky, upbeat vibe is enough to rouse anyone suffering from a food- or work-induced coma.

Check out the single at the top left and then catch Swimsuit Addition, one of our 12 Bands to Watch in 2012, on February 24 at the Burlington with Vamos and House Sounds. Tickets are $5.

Right before X-Mas, they dropped a rather cool Bruce Springsteen cover, and now they’re offering a new remix EP as a free download.

The EP features remixes of their track “Some Love” from Toledo chillwaver Brothertiger, San Fran electro-duo City Light and Luxembourg dupstepper Sun Glitters.

You may remember when the Confetti track got the which got the visual treatment back in September with summery video. You can download the Some Love EP for free, well at the cost of an e-mail address, at Mush Records’ Facebook page.

In other A Lull news, the band is hitting the road this winter with DC’s Deleted Scenes. They’re heading to the West coast and a few southern spots before working their way back to the Midwest in mid-February. The band just rocked Subterranean last Friday night, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a hometown show added sooner than later.

Check out their tour dates below:

A LULL

1.12.12 Replay Lounge – Lawrence, KS #
1.13.12 Hi Dive – Denver, CO #
1.14.12 Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT / BUY TICKETS # and Nurses
1.16.12 Manny’s – Billings, MT #
1.17.12 The Badlander – Missoula, MT # and Sick Kids XOXO
1.19.12 Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR +
1.20.12 Comet Tavern – Seattle, WA +
1.23.12 Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA +
1.24.12 Odd Fellows Hall – Davis, CA +
1.26.12 The Echo – Los Angeles, CA +
1.27.12 Tin Can Alehouse – San Diego, CA +
1.28.12 Club Congress – Tucson, AZ #
1.30.12 The Mohawk – Austin, TX
1.31.12 Dan’s Silver Leaf – Denton, TX #
2.01.12 Conservatory – Oklahoma City, OK #
2.02.12 MOJO – Columbia, MO #
2.03.12 The Rozz Tox – Rock Island, IL #
2.04.12 The Sett at UW – Madison, WI #
# – w/ Deleted Scenes
+ – w/ Deleted Scenes & Ravenna Woods

Hospital Garden

The group released a new four-song split EP with Americana rockers The Canoes last month. On the album, Hospital Garden’s sole original track “Something Happened” exhibits some real bite.

The new track is crunchier than Hospital Garden’s past catalog. “Something Happened” booms and thunders with distressed solos and chunky rhythms. It’s chaotic, but oh, so good.

Hospital Garden play Pancho’s this Friday, Dec. 16, with Roach Beach, Neon Love Life and Blizzard Babies. Tickets are $5.

We Love You

The last we spoke of Chicago’s We Love You may have been in our 10 Chicago Bands To Watch In 2010 feature. Some line-up changes slowed the We Love You train down a bit, but it’s 2011 and, damn it, this is the year you really should watch out for these guys.

For starters, the fellas have settled into a three-piece with Derek Bish on guitar and vox, Matt Clamme on drums, and Nick Lucius on bass. More importantly, We Love You has a new EP on the horizon. (Full disclosure: the EP was recorded as a four piece with Spencer Heck on guitar).

The track “Preacher On Paper” – that we have available for your listening pleasure – is a short burst of old school indie rock. These dorks grew up on the stuff, you know. If you’re like me and have missed the sound of Archers of Loaf or the smaller, quirkier side of Built To Spill, then this song is for you. Check it out below:

Catch We Love You at The Mutiny on Saturday, April 9, with fellow Chicagoans Coping. While you’re there, pick up a copy of the EP, limited to 100, won’t you?

The song, titled “Villain”, follows in the footsteps of their older material wading in a pool of bluegrass and a quasi-country feel, but big guitar swells and a noisy Wilco-like freak out at the end keeps it sounding fresh. Listen to “Villain” below:

Dig it? Then be sure to catch Dastardly at the Metro on Friday, November 12, with Chaperone and Aktar Aktar. Tickets are available right now at Etix.com for only $10.

You could argue it takes about three spins before you’re fully drawn in to the musical fabric of a record. But Chicago’s Northpilot – as if advertising for some shiny new electric screwdriver – offers this service in about half that time! The band recently dropped a new EP titled The Bright Brigade that makes the time-honored art of listening to records about as easy as it is rewarding.

Northpilot’s music is soulful (in a Fripp-and-Giles sort of way) but also crafty without being overly complicated. The songs are works of precision, but not in the progressive or industrial rock sense. Instead, they gather their precision from the way the band atomizes several simple yet independent parts and weaves them together with great skill. Most songs on The Bright Brigade are broken up into two or three simple pieces – varying widely in dynamics and melody.

Across the board, hearty piano riffs pairs up alongside growling synthesizers and less-growling guitar lines. And, at moments, the EP reaches a melodramatic tenor worthy of melodramatic prose: The first song, “Radio Lawyers” starts out a punchy and high-fidelity but finishes as if we’re hearing a well-tuned piano from inside a cavern. “Beautiful Raincoat” has an unbelievably catchy melody laid over a cool brit pop/surf rock feel. “Northern Something” lays down earthy synth over hyper-active drums, and by far the coolest thing about Northpilot is how they somehow make this combination sound “groovy.”

It may contain only six songs, but there’s still a ton to listen to and talk about on the EP. An example is the second song, “Naked Before My Captors”, which explores finding simple solutions in the strangest places. And “Beautiful Raincoat” evokes the larger theme of how something that exists only for its function can also be aesthetically pleasing.

Northpilot is essentially the brainchild of Travis Shaver and Mark Cowell, who came to Chicago from East Lansing in 2006 and paired up with Matthew Cragnolin, Dan Julian, Danielle Schnurer, Justin Vittori. With The Bright Brigade, the band has sewn together a brilliant patchwork of rock, beautiful melodies and experimentation.
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Catch Northpilot on Friday, October 29, at the Elbo Room. Tickets are available right now at Elboroomchicago.com for only $9!
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Northpilot -- “Radio Lawyers” live at House Of Blues Chicago

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF-wEIdbFFw

Chicago’s Mutts aren’t playing around. The first aspect of their new EP, The Tells of Parallels, that truly jumps out from the speakers is its pure heaviness. Heaviness in the static-y production value and heaviness in general attitude. Every instrument on the record is mic’ed up to 11: the drums, the bass, the keys, the guitar. Actually, scratch that last one. The trio actually forgoes the guitar and instead relies on a dirty, mud-soaked key tone to drive the melodies. It’s saying something that a band can reach the big rock n’ roll moments of current major acts like Queens Of The Stone Age or the Dead Weather without an axe, but Mutts do and quite effortlessly at that.

The Tells of Parallels is one of those albums that if played at a high volume, the paint on the walls of your one bedroom rental might peel right off. Mutts seem to embrace the low end of the melodic spectrum. Even lead singer Mike Maimone’s vocals are nearly baritone, but his control and ability to hit the notes really flesh out their sound. Then you also have Bob Buckstaff’s fuzz-all-up-in-your-face bass and Chris Faller’s jackhammer drumming that can still sustain a nice groove when the song calls for it.

The EP begins with its most epic moment in “Terranaut”, which opens with some eerie spoken word over the sound of rainfall. Maimone’s vocals creep in with his keyboard ultimately exploding into a roller-coaster harmony with all the power of a 18-wheeler careening out of control on a dark highway. “Symmetry” ups the ante with a bit of a more brash, punk approach that’s fast and frantic. It’s hard to tell if Buckstaff’s bass is acutally playing along with the song or if it’s just a free for all solo, but whatever it is, it works. The song races to a big climax during which Maimone sings “Symmetry scares me!” followed by some fun “Whoo-Whoo-Whoos”. Another big rocker, “Gone” features a bouncy keyboard line that will surely get the listener’s head-a-noddin’ with Faller following behind with some killer snare antics.

“Masquerade” is a bit of a tease as it starts out with that punk aggression heard on “Symmetry”, but suddenly gives way to the album’s most pop-filled moment in a nearly reggae verse section. The record closes with “Junior”, a bluesy throwback that might be the most melodic song on the EP. Maimone really showcases his vocal talent on the track where his range transitions from a deep-throated, Texas-sized drawl to nearly metallic shrieks during the chorus.

In five songs, Mutts pretty much let it all hang out. The Tells of Parallels is not only well produced, a few songs are really fleshed out with some quirky overdubs and in-studio chatter, but it works because of it’s simplicity. Mutts never drag. They give it their all in five-minutes or less, and it really works. The band are poised to become one of Chicago’s top acts if they keep pumping out material that’s as good as what The Tells of Parallels has to offer. One word of warning: this record is made for Saturday night party shenanigans, not for the hangover of the morning after, unless you want your swollen head to get even more pounded.
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Catch Mutts on Friday, October 1, at the Beat Kitchen for the The Tells of Parallels EP release party. Tickets are available right now at Ticketweb.com for only $8!
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Mutts – “Gone”

The quartet will premiere their first ever music video for the song “Not Aware” off its recently released debut EP Big Bang. The video was also shot at Late Bar.

The evening’s festivities will kick off at 9 p.m. and will feature DJ sets by Maybenauts guitarist Vee Sonnets (aka the space panda) and drummer/CHIRP DJ Emily Agustin. Other perks offered that night will include hors d’oerves and prize giveaways until the video’s debut at 11 p.m.

So what does one where to a video release party, you say?

Per the press release:

Elegant dress or space suits are encouraged but not required.

If you can’t make the party, the Maybenauts will live stream the party on their web site Maybenauts.com.