Author Archives: Dan Jarvis

PHOTOS: DAN JARVIS | Chicago’s Riot Fest has come and gone, and I am in still recovering from the three days of musical nirvana I experienced in Humboldt Park. The weekend, full of rain and expensive beer, luckily also included an uncanny amount of powerful musical acts that ranged from punk rock to rap and many genres in between. 

Friday was “Riot Fest Lite” for me. Arriving later in the afternoon, the first day was in full swing as we passed through the gates. The wristband, beer ticket, and beverage lines were all a mile long, and after a quick hour-long wait I was ready to enjoy some music.

That evening, I floated between stages, catching GWAR, Sublime with Rome, and even a minute or two of Fall Out Boy’s performance with an occasional stop to see the fire spinners and hula-hoopers.

Never knowing what they’ll do next, GWAR once again hit the Riot Fest stage with their abrasive live show. Say what you will about their music, but do they ever know how to put on a show. Last year they aborted Snooki’s baby on stage, and this year they tore the head off Super Zombie Jesus, all done with a great sense of pride and in the name of their home planet of Scumdogia.

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The music of Paper Thick Walls has been placed upon the same pedestal as many of the great indie folk artists of the last two decades. On top of that, their debut album A Thousand Novels has received literally hundreds of positive reviews since its 2011 release. This Friday, these Chicago locals bring their brand of orchestral indie rock back home to the Double Door.

Their songs may present themselves as understated folk ballads upon first listen, but they quickly grow into raucous walls of sound. The five piece band is composed of violin, piano, guitar, upright bass, and drums.

Add to that equation the infectious songwriting and vocal style of lead band members Eric Michaels and Kate Schell, and you’ll see that there’s a damn good reason Paper Thick Walls has received so much praise.

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“Mutts’ music embraces the inner turmoil, the things that are striven for, the ways that we fall short, the ways we’re let down, as well as the few things that spark us back onto the right track, even if those are the rare moments, the briefest of comebacks.” —Sean Moeller, Daytrotter

If you’re a Chicagoan and you haven’t heard of Mutts by now you might as well be saying you haven’t heard of Barack Obama. OK, that might be an exaggeration, but they have cemented themselves as a must-see band in the local music scene over their 4 years of releasing music together.

With a knack for honest, personal, and truly intimate songwriting, frontman Mike Maimone’s songs will tear at your heart-strings but mend them in due time. Their live show ranges from raucous keyboards and pounding drums to delicate piano ballads. Think Tom Waits, if he still had the energy to jump up on his piano mid-song.

Over the course of releasing three full length LPs and a whole bunch of EPs, the band has grown into a unified and versatile act that truly defies all genres.

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We talked with psych-pop favorites and innovators of “Hindie Rock” Elephant Stone, in the hot summer sun of Austin Psych Fest—well, actually in the cool comfy rocking chairs of the Artist tent—to discuss the band’s latest self titled record, their US tour with The Black Angels, and well, vinyl.

Vocalist, bassist, and sitar genius Rishi Dhir and guitarist Gab Lambert spill it all in the TVD Interview.

Recently, I asked the band SUUNS this same question since you guys are both from Montreal. Is there a psych scene coming out of Montreal?

Rishi Dhir: Montreal is funny, it’s been so conditioned by Arcade Fire and the Arbutus Records scene. I can’t say there’s a big psych scene in Montreal. No Joy is kind of shoegaze-y, Besnard Lakes are shoegaze-y, I think Suuns are probably the most “psych” band in Montreal.

Yea, they’re kind of a totally different monster…

RD: Yea, the stuff they’re doing… no one else is doing that. It’s not pop. We do pop, we’re a pop band.

You guys do pop so well. You do a great job of integrating some psychedelic aspects, but at the heart of it Elephant Stone is a pop band. 

RD: It’s funny, I posted a video on our YouTube account and someone commented that us, The Black Angels, and Tame Impala are their hope for music right now. One guy writes “Yhese guys are nothing like Tame Impala or The Black Angels, this is shitty pop music.” I posted back, “Yes, it is pop music, so what?” Some people are so closed-minded. Tame Impala is pop music too. I posted the video so when I replied to it was my name, and this guy is hiding behind a pseudonym, so he knows it’s me responding to him. It’s funny how trolls like that work.

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Spring is here, April showers are beginning to replace the gloomy Chicago winter, and “t-shirt weather” is just around the corner. This time of year is particularly special for music lovers and vinyl junkies like myself. Plenty of great record shows come around each Spring but the real vinyl event of the season is Record Store Day.

This annual record appreciation day will take place on Saturday April 20th and bring with it over 400 new releases and reissues from artists new and old.

The release list is generally heavy on vinyl releases, but this year includes the largest selection of CD releases in RSD history. Even a couple of cassettes made the cut. As in previous years, these releases are generally limited to very low quantities (sometimes as low 300-500), meaning it’s very likely you’ll miss out on some of these if you don’t get your shopping done early.

You can find the master release list at the official Record Store Day website in both a flashy web version and a convenient printable PDF (that serves as a great grocery list). This list is by no means complete, tons of smaller indie labels use Record Store Day to put out a new and exclusive records that don’t always make the official list. Start making your picks today and be prepared for Saturday’s record store shopping rush.

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On a chilly Chicago Sunday, I had the chance to talk with Anthony Cozzi, front man of Radar Eyes—a band that has been a huge part of the Chicago garage rock scene for some 5 years now and who are just a few days short of the one-year anniversary of their vinyl debut on HoZac Records,

Anthony offered some insight into his songwriting, the home recording process, and the direction the band is heading. We also reminisced about growing up in the south suburbs of Chicago, our favorite record stores, and how the music industry is easily not what it used to be.

I’ll admit I’m fairly new to you guys. I don’t know how you weren’t already on my radar but I first heard the song “I Am” a few weeks ago when the band Asteroid #4 posted it on their Facebook page with the tagline “Wow…sometimes something comes along where even we’re like…’ok, that’s fucking amazing!’”

I was pretty much hooked from there. I played it 4 or 5 times in a row and then immediately searched out some of your other songs. By the time I heard the track “Miracle” I had bought the album and a 7” from HoZac.

Nice! Glad you like it. Some of those songs were recorded over 2 or 2 ½ years ago now; some of them were recorded about a year ago. We’ve had some of them written for about 4 years though.

So, this album had been in the works a long time. It’s been a year since the Radar Eyes LP came out, how do you feel about the past year and the reaction to the album? Was it well received?

Yeah, better than expected for a home recording. I actually was not super satisfied with it but I just had to be done with it. I did all the basic recording myself, did the mixing, did most of the overdubs… It got a little crazy for me.

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It’s hard to lump a band like honeyhoney into any specific genre or scene. Critics and fans alike throw around the terms “alt-folk” or “alt-country” the minute a banjo or mandolin is combined with electric guitar. honeyhoney write good pop songs, some of them rock and some of them just sway gently in the breeze. It’s not quite country, or folk, or rock but a combination of it all that is truly unique.

honeyhoney took the stage in Chicago with a nervous excitement. Vocalist/Guitarist/Drummer Ben Jaffe joked with the audience and the whole band wore their Sunday’s best. Singer/songwriter, Suzanne Santos, explained that this was the first crowd they’ve played for that felt like “our crowd.”

The band has attracted plenty of fans as an opener for bigger acts like Sheryl Crow and Trampled By Turtles, but this time they were the headliner. Always a bridesmaid and never a bride, honeyhoney was now wearing the long white dress.

Normally a duo, composed of Ben Jaffe and Suzanne Santos, the band has a rotating cast of other musicians who help fill in wherever necessary. The 3-piece ensemble they brought to the Bottom Lounge was new territory for the band but they quickly found their stride. Ben Jaffe manned the drum set, but also took on guitar and vocals, sometimes all three at once.

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