Jim DeRogatis provides an obligatory "Chicago's next big bands" list today, and we actually find ourselves agreeing with most of his picks, even if a few are overly obvious. For instance it's not exactly like he's mining the underground when he predicts Kid Sister and the Cool Kids are going to break in 2008. We were pleasantly surprised to see Airiel and Tom Schraeder on his list, though, since those are two acts that we believe have been passing under the radar, and both are primed to grab a larger audience this year. Schraeder in particular has been riding a swelling wave of good press and larger live audiences.

On the flip side we're confused by DeRo's picks of Head Of Femur and Team Band. Sure, Head Of Femur is an excellent band, but weren't they the next big thing years ago? We like 'em, but just don't see them leaping to the next level. And picking the one-note joke (although it's a good joke if you like Art Brut, and we do like Art Brut) Team Band totally confuses us. Sure, they're kind of fun live, but we have yet to hear anything from them that separates them from, well, sounding a lot like an Art Brut cover band.

What are your thoughts? Are we off the mark? Did DeRo miss anyone you would put on the list?

Picture of The Cool Kids by Clayton Hauck