THE MEEKS
THE MEGABANGERS
THE MEMPHIS MURDER MEN
“50’s rock ‘n’ roll bastard child” – that just about sums up The Memphis Murder Men. Originally hailing from Pittsburgh, PA, the band evolved from the Steel City’s first horror-punk outfit – The Brain Invaders – and now call Oakland their home. These guys have fired up the stage with The Misfits, Tiger Army, The Murder Junkies, The Quakes, The Guana Batz and just about every legendary psychobilly band there is.
The group completely embodies the rock ‘n’ roll that gave birth to every punk, rockabilly, and psycho band out there and do it without regrets or fear of what “the scene” might think. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, The Memphis Murder Men are putting the last nail in the coffin of bad rock ‘n’ roll and cranking out loud and proud rhythm and blues the way the greats did.
THE MENTHOLS
THE JONESTOWN CHOIR
THE JORDAN YEARS
THE JULIET DAGGER
THE KEY POINT
THE KICKBACK
Familiarizing oneself to The Kickback may seem like an exercise in confronting consistent sets of seemingly opposing ideas: A band that prides itself on its love of Muppet Christmas specials and youthful naiveté but has no problem admitting to a paralyzing fear of death and decline. The group seems to strive for brutal honesty, all-the-while realizing they’re a pop band playing pop music. Even the membership of the group itself may seem odd: one-half brothers from South Dakota, one-half Chicago transplants from Washington D.C. and Mexico.
Comprised of brothers Billy (vocals, guitar) and Danny (drums) Yost, Eamonn Donnelly (bass) and Jonny Ifergan (guitar), Chicago’s The Kickback is a result of the brothers’ emigration to The Windy City from rural South Dakota in late 2009 and the subsequent Craigslist pleas seeking out band members. The group’s music (with songs exploring journalists banding together in the early 1980s to battle the decline of print journalism through sheer ultraviolence to the emasculation of trying to protect the woman you love in a city you don’t understand in a body you know is eventually going in the ground) have earned the group wide praise from Rolling Stone, Sound Opinons contributor Jim Derogatis, You Ain’t No Picasso, the Chicago Tribune, and many more.
After a steady two years of touring and supporting acts like White Rabbits, Smith Westerns, Here We Go Magic, Tapes ‘n Tapes, and Telekinesis (all-the-while earning a reputation as a stellar and explosive live act), the band has released Kill Fee, an EP of live takes and studio recordings. In July, the group announced that it would be recording their debut LP (tentatively titled Sorry All Over The Place, after a footnote in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest) with producer Dennis Herring (Modest Mouse, Elvis Costello, Wavves) at his Sweet Tea studio in Oxford, Mississippi. Following the mastering process (undertaken by Brian Lucey (Black Keys, The Shins, Neko Case), the group will embark on a nationwide tour in support of the release. To document their travels, the band began recording their podcast, Diary of a Disas-tour, in December of 2010 are nearing their 60th episode. The show attempts to address the far-from-glamorized lives of a band on the road and the arrested development indicative of the lives they have chosen.
THE KILLER
KOBANES
The kids know what’s up and, all of a sudden, the kids are really into The Kobanes, with T-shirts and other merch cropping up en masse. A split label Japanese release to coincide with one of the band’s infamous Japanese tours, Japan Invasion is a very solid, mainline pop punk album. Taking 1990s silliness to new peaks with songs about loved ones smelling each other’s feces, suburban ghettos, dicks, and drugs, The Kobanes’ lyrics are gleefully apolitical, mean-spirited, and downright asinine. And that’s a compliment! Driving, Queers-inspired riffs dominate the mix, with geek-tinged vocals maintaining a spirited, tongue-in-ass-cheek vibe. A higher end byproduct of a dwindling subgenre, Japan Invasion happily invaded this aging pop punker’s heavy rotation. There’s even a cover of “Fan Mail” included for Dickies fans. Plus, any album that starts with a dialog sample from Class of Nuke ’em High is okay by me. –Art Ettinger
THE KRANK DADDIES
Here are the THE WORLD FAMOUS KRANK DADDIES, a Chicago based band always ready and willing to RIP IT UP!! After thousands of shows people have labeled The KrankDaddies music as Raw Rippin Rock n Roll. The KRANK DADDIES deliver a high impact live performanc
THE LARROQUETTES
THE LAST GOOD YEAR
THE LAST TRUE ROCK ‘N ROLLER
THE LAST VEGAS
THE LAVELLAS
THE LEAVES
THE LEFTOVERS
THE LIFE FORMS
THE LIFELINE
The Lifeline…..Chicago’s most anticipated up -and-coming alternative rock band. They are where “Class meets Sass” and sophistication and beauty are paired with an edginess as well as attitude that would make James Dean proud while Mozart blushes.
THE HYPNIC JERKS
THE IDEAS
THE IMPENDING BEHAVIOR ORCHESTRA
THE INDEPENDENTS
THE INFECTED
THE INJURED
THE INJURED PARTIES
The Injured Parties played their debut gig in February 2005. Led by former Post Office songwriter-guitarist, Larry O. Dean, the IP’s came together after Dean’s previous band, the ambitious, avant-pop sextet, The Me Decade, imploded.
Looking to streamline the violin and viola-driven sound of TMD, Dean recruited bassist Jimmy De Lauriea (Bugga-ohng, Shiver, Amelia Glass) and drummer Mike Ebersohl (Hickory Ridge, Earthshine, Medicine Wheel, Axis, Vision, Four on the Floor, Payton and The Peers, The Veil, The Yellowhammers, Double Wide, Mistreated, Honey Don’t, Chuck Cox and the Johnson Principle, The Nashvillains, Kurt Crandall and True Story) from the vibrant Chicago music underground, creating a more classic ‘power trio’ line-up.
With rich three-part harmonies, chugging electric guitar, deft rhythms and Dean’s ‘songs and sardonica’ approach to composition, The Injured Parties’ music draws inspiration from the melody and verve of vintage Kinks, the squonk of Neil Young’s Crazy Horse, the blissful feedback of The Velvet Underground, the psychedelic twang of The Byrds, and the hard-edged pop of The Posies.
Commemorating their one year anniversary, The Injured Parties headed into the studio to record their debut album with engineer Jeff Hamand (Souled American, Tallulah, Diane Izzo), mixing in Nashville with producer Mark Nevers (Lambchop, The Clientele, Calexico, Bobby Bare Jr.). Fun with a Purpose was released in July 2009.
In 2013, the band contributed a track to Starry Eyed, a tribute album to UK powerpop band, The Records. They are currently recording their second full-length, to be released later this year. Stay tuned!”
THE INNOCENT
THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINES
THE ITS
THE IVORYS
The Ivorys:
While harnessing a love of gritty classic rock and dance, this sharp ‘power trio’ consisting of Neil Candelora, Brendan Lazar, and Sam White deliver driving, catchy rock and roll at its purest through powerhouse recordings and an animated yet electrifying live show.
THE JAGZ
OUT OF THE STUDIO AND INTO THE WILD…. Yes indeed jagz nation, the hard rocking outfit from Chicago best known for anthems of righteous mayhem and suspended disbelief is out of the recording studio with 7, count ’em, 7 blistering new tracks guaranteed to drive you home and rip your face off….. Sounds too good to be true? We think so too….. So come join us on the road less traveled, a rocky road, and one you know damn well ain’t paved in gooey ice cream….. Just ask one of our biggest fans, Gert, who dresses out at six-two, two-twenty. (No, you don’t wanna fuck with her.)…. “They’re kinda like your favorite meal,” she hiccupped, “if that meal happens to be cheeseburgers and bourbon.”…. Hellfire, this is making us hungry. To rock, that is….. Hope to see y’all at our next shindig….. C’mon wid it!.. the jagz
THE JAMES MITCHELL BAND
THE JANES GO-GO TROUPE
THE JAZZ EXPLORERS
THE JESSE MINUTE
THE JOANS
THE JOHN & JANE DOE’S
THE JOHNSTONES
THE GUSTO
THE GUTS
THE GUTTER TWINS
THE HALLOW
The Hallow formed in Chicago, IL. in 2005. They created a sound that blended punk rock, new wave, death rock and alternative and made it all their own. The Hallow has released several records since their conception and most recently released their new LP, Cielo, in late 2021.
THE HAMBURGLARS
“If you strip the Hamburglars of their hilarious gimmick, you still have a damn good garage rock band that is easily up to par with any current band of their ilk. Add back in the Hamburglar gimmick though and you have one of the most clever singles to ever come out of that genre since The Mummies. ”
– MXV – The Punk Vault
THE HAND ME DOWNS
THE HANDSOME DEVILZ
With over a decade of playing The Smiths and Morrissey, The Handsome Devilz are still going strong and bringing more and more to the stage. Doing what we love, there truly is a light that never goes out.