And we can only hope that the rest of the songs on Sexual Harassment, the band’s forthcoming CD, are half as catchy as the title track. Noteworthy tunes include the two-minute “Frustration Regarding Bedlam on the Sidewalk,” which combines catchy riffs and lyrics in rhyming couplets: “We crash landed quite an extravaganza / And we met a hero named Tony Danza.” Long Live the Pelican Express, the band’s second seven-inch, is a little more slapdash, which is not to say it doesn’t have its charms–what the songs lack in production, some, like “I’m Racing Isaiah,” make up in enjoyability. Short, well-crafted songs are the norm on the seven-inch Exotic Nitwits Keep Exotic Pets. The band’s I’m Thinking Metric, a cassette-only release, is a trip–a bizarre cross between a children’s record and an intellectual sort of lo-fi album. His replacement for this evening’s set was Christian Goodwillie.

Rafeeq Hasan, the band’s usual bass player, was, according to Smith, “cavorting” with his girlfriend in London. On drums was Jeff Giba, and Andy Dunn handled another guitar. He began the set wearing an oversized sombrero that came down to his waist. Vocalist and guitarist Graham Smith, who writes a good portion of the band’s music, is kind of a nut. The Downers Grove group mixes bubblegum pop and full-power rock with intelligent and completely random lyrics–all filtered through a unique, though somewhat deranged, sensibility. Not to say that they don’t make well-crafted music. At their Fireside Bowl show they were often silly and sometimes sloppy, but the crowd loved them anyway. The boys in Kleenex Girl Wonder get away with shit they probably wouldn’t be able to if they were ten years older. Would it be appropriate to say that KRS-One is pretty smart–for a black guy?īut being a teenager has its advantages. And just try to find a piece on Ben Lee that doesn’t say that he’s pretty smart–for a teenager. You can’t find an article about Silverchair that doesn’t link their being obnoxious twits to the fact that they’re teenage boys. Stories on bands with members under the age of 20 almost invariably refer to their ages. Best of Chicago 2022: Sports & Recreation.Best of Chicago 2022: Music & Nightlife.

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