Review: The Great Pretenders [Mini Mansions]

The Great Pretenders [Mini Mansions]

by: Kitty White

Mini Mansions, a sharp dressed trio from California, are set to release their second album titled The Great Pretenders next week. With months of teased singles and videos the hype amongst fans is at an all time high, and for good reason, this album is wonderful. Mini Mansions have traded in their White Album-esque sound of their eponymous album for a much wider array of influences and cameos such as Alex Turner, Brian Wilson, and The B-52’s Fred Schneider. Although in writing it sounds like a motley crew, everything melds together into a perfectly sherbet colored dreamscape of an album.

Review: Foo Fighters at Coopers Stadium, Adelaide

by: Nicola Willsmore

It was the Adelaide leg of the Foo Fighters stadium tour at Coopers Stadium on the 4^th March 2015. They played to a somewhat lively group of just over 25,000 people. Dave Grohl and his wonderful band proved to those promoters (*cough* AJ Maddah) who said that Adelaide is going through a “financial and mental depression due to a lacking music scene” that music is not dead in our city with his incredible charisma and 2.5 hour set of pure gold.

Review: No Cities To Love [Sleater-Kinney]

No Cities To Love- Sleater-Kinney

by: Kitty White

Thank the heavens for 2014 and the year Sleater-Kinney not only reunited but also announced a new album and tour. Now next week we can expect their new album No Cities To Love to sit on our shelves as if there was never a gap between 2006 and 2014. 

Review: Sonic Highways [Foo Fighters]

Sonic Highways- Foo Fighters

by: Kitty White

Foo Fighters released their eighth studio album Sonic Highways today to mixed reviews. The album features eight songs recorded in eight different US cities accompanied by an HBO mini series that focuses on the musical background of each of the cities and then ends each episode with the song from the featured city with a local legend playing along with Foo Fighters on the song. The guest artists feature some heavy names such as Rick Nielsen, Joe Walsh, Gary Clark Jr., and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie. Even with a star-studded cast of characters on the album, the album has fallen short of many people's expectations. It doesn’t feel right giving an overall broad opinion on this album seeing as each song really has it’s own background to it and therefore get’s a little messy. The project itself was quite ambitious so let’s start off giving credit where credit is due for Foo Fighters taking on such a task of a nationwide album. Sometimes first flights are a little rocky but there’s a few shining moments that still make it worthy of praise.

Review: Nightmare Revisited

Nightmare Revisited- Various Artists

by: Sabrina G

In the spirit of Halloween and all things October… I decided to do a review of a very interesting album. Flash back to me in eighth grade (goth makeup, lots of black, obsessed with the macabre and a Hot Topic junkie – it’s funny how little has changed if I’m being perfectly honest). I remember being beyond excited for the release of this album.

Review: Brody Dalle at Bottom Lounge Chicago

by: Kitty White

On July 26th Chicago opened its arms and ears to Brody Dalle at the Bottom Lounge. The former front woman of The Distillers and Spinnerette just released her first solo album Diploid Love earlier this year and has been on tour since. This show was one of my most anticipated of the summer and it lived up to every expectation.

Review: Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

by: Kitty White

Last week Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden kicked off their tour together and stopped by the south Chicago suburb of Tinley Park for a show the audience will remember for the rest of their lives. Both bands are celebrating 20 years of one of their most iconic albums: The Downward Spiral for NIN and Superunknown for Soundgarden. Despite being on the older end of the spectrum on the current touring circuit they both rocked harder than most of the young guys out on the scene right now, proving why still going strong after all these years.

Review: Sir Paul McCartney at The United Center

by: Daly Tongren

After having to postpone a month’s worth of shows, Sir Paul McCartney stopped by the United Center for one of his first performances since being hospitalized last June. The 72-year-old former Beatle/Wing powered through a 39-song set that included a Hendrix snippet, two encores, and plenty of pyrotechnics.

Twenty Years of Live Through This

I Swear That I Would Die for You

[Twenty Years of Live Through This]

by: Nikki Lomax

Review: Lazaretto [Jack White]

Lazaretto- Jack White

by: Lirty Diberal

Jack White, hailing from Detroit, Michigan, is the former front-man of garage rock duo, The White Stripes, and, currently is apart of his own solo band, in which he has released two albums since 2012.

Review: Everybody Loves Our Town [Mark Yarm]

by: Sabrina G

Everybody Loves Our Town is most likely the only book on grunge that I’d recommend anyone interested in learning about the history of the genre. I’ve leafed through a few college textbooks and reference books concerning the history of alternative rock and they fell short. I may have gotten a bit nit-picky but between three different texts, I found a lot of incorrect dates, misspelt band members names, incorrect album titles, and several other errors that I saw to be somewhat major.

Review: The Presidents of the United States of America at The House Of Blues Chicago

by: Kitty White

“Well I’ve been elected to rock your asses ‘till midnight,” Chris Ballew wails as he starts The Presidents of the United States of America set with their version of the MC5 classic ‘Kick Out The Jams’ at House of Blues Chicago on a Tuesday night in June. The night began with a local Chicago band known as Workout Music who were fast paced and helped keep the anxious crowd pumped for the main act. 

Review: Elvis Costello at the Copernicus Center

by: Daly Tongren

A solo show doesn’t mean you have to stick to the hits. To Elvis Costello, it means that you can play anything (and everything) that you want.  The 59-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee played an almost three hour set at Chicago’s Copernicus Center last week, including two encores.

Review: An Evening With Neil Young at the Chicago Theatre

by: Daly Tongren

Last month, fresh out of the recording studio with Jack White, Neil Young held a two-night stint at the Chicago Theatre. 

Review: Enclosure [John Frusciante]

Enclosure- John Frusciante

by: Sabrina G

 The best way to preface this review is a quote from John: "Enclosure, upon its completion, was the record which represented the achievement of all the musical goals I had been aiming at for the previous 5 years. It was recorded simultaneously with Black Knights' Medieval Chamber and as different as the two albums appear to be, they represent one investigative creative thought process. What I learned from one fed directly into the other. Enclosure is presently my last word on the musical statement which began with PBX."

Review: PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone [Frusciante Countdown]

PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone (which will be referred to simply as PBX) was a very different album for John Frusciante. At least, that’s what most of his fans thought. The more I listen to the releases leading up to this, the less of a surprise it is. It’s solidly an electronica album.

Review: Diploid Love [Brody Dalle]

Diploid Love- Brody Dalle

by: Kitty White

Her first full release since Spinnerette’s self-titled release, Diploid Love is also Brody Dalle’s first ever solo project. The covert ‘Jill of all trades’ plays most of the parts on the album but has the likes of Shirley Manson, Emily Kokal, Michael Shuman and Nick Valensi sharing some of the spotlight with her on the album as well. It’s a powerful collection of personal songs that mix all the ingredients of Dalle’s former days in The Distillers and Spinnerette and modernizes them in a way only this veteran punk rocker could do. 

Review: The National at The Chicago Theatre

by: Kitty White

From April 15-18th The National had a residency at the beautiful Chicago Theatre. With all four nights sold out almost instantly after tickets went on sale it was a well sought after show for Chicago fans and I was lucky enough to get tickets to the second night. According to a local radio host the second night of a four-night stand is the magical night and that was most definitely true.

Review: The Empyrean [Frusciante Countdown]

The Empyrean- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

Review: Curtains [Frusciante Countdown]

Curtains- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G