Chicago’s Suns have pretty much burst onto our local scene in a big way. Folks still talk about their January debut at the Metro. I suppose when your band is comprised of members of other formerly well known bands such as Wax On Radio and Blame Twilight you’ve got a built in buzz. Roughly eight months (Actually six, but I received the album a few months late) after their forming, Suns have released a double EP. This may sound odd because you might think “isn’t a double EP just a full-length?”, and you wouldn’t be a fool for asking such a question. But, The Howl and The Many and Close Calls In The U.S. Space Program are different enough that I can see why they chose to release them this way.

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It would be a surprise if Chicago’s own California Wives are still unsigned in the near future. Coming off of an impressive set at the Wicker Park festival this summer, the band’s new five song EP, Affair, is subtle yet catchy. It’s the kind of EP you listen to eight times in a row, not for a specific song, or a particular verse. It’s because all five songs are just well done.

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Bitchin Bajas is the side project of Cave’s Cooper Crane. There are similarities between the two bands, mostly in that they both mine 70’s Krautrock. But on their debut, Tones/Zones, Bitchin Bajas forgo Cave’s Can-like rhythms for more Tangerine Dream/Brian Eno/Cluster-like keyboard ambiance. And while Cave, despite their influences, still sound mostly modern, Bitchin Bajas do not. In fact, if one picked this album up without knowing a thing about it, they might not know it was produced over 30 years after the above mentioned artist’s heyday, and that’s a good thing.

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Chicago natives, Secret Colours, are bringing the 70’s sound back to this decade with their self-titled debut. The band finds a way to make the classic sounds of Pink Floyd or The Doors approachable in this day and age and breathes some life into 2010 stoner rock scene.

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Russian Circles guitarist Mike Sullivan

As the trio Russian Circles took the stage last Friday, August 14, at the Metro, they showed no signs of being in a major auto wreck merely weeks earlier. Instead with little to no crowd interaction, they focused all their energy on the instrumental metal journeys they specialize in. This was no joyful and warm homecoming party, but rather a testament to the band’s passion and drive as working musicians.

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Albums have funny ways of revealing themselves. Some bands will front load with their best songs and by track four start to let you down. Some bands take the sneaky approach of a soft intro before hitting you over the head (I’m looking at you, Ride The Lightning). Yakuza’s fifth full length, Of Cosmic Consequences, starts out with “The Ant People”, which is two plus minutes of hypnotically pulsating drums and throat singing. In the natural order of things, Yakuza are a metal band. One would be well within reason to believe this to be in the Ride The Lightning mold of bait and switch, and when the riff heavy “Thinning The Herd” kicks in you definitely might think you are on to Yakuza. You’d be wrong.

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Lollapalooza 2010. Day Three. Recap. Go.

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