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Review: Paramount Room
Law school and rock and roll would seem to be diametrically opposed forces. Most of the law school students Chicagoist knows barely have time to go to clubs much less perform in them. But Elizabeth Elmore, lead singer of The Reputation is the exception.
Elmore’s first group was Sarge, formed in 1995 in that hotbed of punk, Champaign, IL. After varying lineup changes and a decision to enroll in Northwestern’s law program, Elmore ended the group in 1999. A solo turn didn’t take and Elmore formed The Reputation. As she told Gothamist, the name was a sarcastic comment on Guyville’s habit of snarking on its female musicians’ sex lives, specifically her own. When a 2002 album received a tepid response, she re-enrolled in school.
Since then, Elmore has balanced both work in law (advising bands on contracts that may or may not be in their best interest to sign) and recording/performing with The Reputation. Their second album, To Force A Fate, came out on Lookout Records in 2004 to critical and popular acclaim leading The Reputation to come into its own (even though some in the group’s hometown are a bit slow to catch on).
And that’s interesting and all. But what about the music?
Well if you want blood, they’ve got it. The Reputation’s sonic wall of guitars (courtesy of Elmore and Sean Hulet) is uniquely Chicago but Elmore’s pleading vocals personalize the songs while the lyrics suggest she’d just as soon kick your ass than love you. Though the rhythm section has been in constant rotation during the band’s five-year history (now courtesy of bassist Greg Mytych and drummer Steve Van Horn), the power behind the songs remains a constant, leaving you with the same feeling in your chest that you’re left with after standing too close to a stack of Marshalls.
The Reputation perform at 10 p.m. tomorrow night at Schubas with Baby Teeth and 8th Grade. Tickets are $8.
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I hate to see the wonderful 4-year tenure of founding bassist Joel Root denigrated as simply being part of a "rotation." Nevertheless, The Reputation rock, and this show will be awesome!
I'm confused...where's Liz Phair come into play here?
For what it's worth, Silkworm's Andy Cohen is a lawyer as well, and they do rock. (did rock? not sure if they broke up after Michael Dahlquist's passing?)
I remember seeing Sarge back in the day, so I'll have to drop by Schubas and give The Reputation a listen too.
I meant "Guyville" in the same sense as Liz used it. That is, to refer to some of the less evolved of Chicago's rock scene.
...I think you all would be shocked to know how many musicians are also lawyers in this town...
This band is terrible!
Won't go as far as the comment by Inge, but, having seen The Reputation once before at Schubas, all I can say is I hope they've come up with some new songs that don't all sound the same. Nothing is worse than a 45 minute set of formulaic rock and roll that relies too heavily on the charisma of the frontperson to carry the show - especially when it's a band you can tell are capable of so much more.
I remember seeing the Reputation play at the Metro once. She made this big sweeping proclamation at the beginning of one of their songs, telling about how much this person meant to her in her life, and it went on for about five minutes. Then she gets ready to play -- and it's the wrong song.
Brilliant.
I finished my beer and left. When Elmore's ass expands, she's gonna lose what's left of what the press lovingly refer to as her "charisma".
And Paul's comment is pretty much what I was talking about above.
I'd rather go see a bad drag show at the baton... thank you.
I'd rather go see a bad drag show at the baton... thank you.
I think this band is very past its prime. they're never going to get big, the music isn't that great even if they were somewhat distinctive about TEN YEARS AGO, and if the only thing that sells them now in tbe press is that the lead singer is/was at an ivy league law school, this band needs to sell their gear on ebay and move on. However, as much as i don't like them, i don't think Elmore's appeal is solely based on her looks. Tsk tsk, paul.
I think this band is very past its prime. they're never going to get big, the music isn't that great even if they were somewhat distinctive about TEN YEARS AGO, and if the only thing that sells them now in tbe press is that the lead singer is/was at an ivy league law school, this band needs to sell their gear on ebay and move on. However, as much as i don't like them, i don't think Elmore's appeal is solely based on her looks. Tsk tsk, paul.
Ummmmm... Northwestern is not an ivy leage school. While it is a very good school, the term "ivy league" refers to an athletic conference made up of schools on the east coast. The conference includes some of our nations top universities, but Northwestern is not an "ivy league" school.
Wow, youre a walking Wikipedia, Jason!
Curious about the metro show - I totally don't remember this, but I wouldn't put it past myself to do something moronic like that, at least as far starting the wrong song goes. But I only remember once every talking about how much a song meant to me - and even that was about 20 seconds - and that was at the last braid show in Champaign. I'm not really the type to talk about what songs do or don't mean on stage.
And though it wasn't meant as a compliment, the "all the songs sound the same" comment nicely balances out a number of reviews we got on the last record saying that we covered too MUCH territory. So hell, I'm going to blindly hope it's somewhere in the middle...
And finally, while I appreciate the concern for my ass, my current consternation is more over it flattening, as opposed to expanding.
Much love,
elizabeth
Curious about the metro show - I totally don't remember this, but I wouldn't put it past myself to do something moronic like that, at least as far starting the wrong song goes. But I only remember once every talking about how much a song meant to me - and even that was about 20 seconds - and that was at the last braid show in Champaign. I'm not really the type to talk about what songs do or don't mean on stage.
And though it wasn't meant as a compliment, the "all the songs sound the same" comment nicely balances out a number of reviews we got on the last record saying that we covered too MUCH territory. So hell, I'm going to blindly hope it's somewhere in the middle...
And finally, while I appreciate the concern for my ass, my current consternation is more over it flattening, as opposed to expanding.
Much love,
elizabeth
gaw... i love it when the subject of a blog post weighs in on the post in the comments section... it's so meta!