Download Then See: Hard Kiss At Township

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 16, 2013 5:40PM

Photo by Dana Ardell

As further proof that Chicago's rock and/or roll scene is indeed alive, well and thriving, there is so much good music coming out of the scene that a band as good as Hard Kiss can completely fly under this writer's radar.

This Chicago trio is led by Johnny V, who wrote the band's debut following the dissolution of a previous band. He recruited bassist Ian Fell and drummer Mello (yeah, just Mello) to help him record the album Hot Trash. it's good old fashioned Midwestern rock, in the tradition of Cheap Trick and The Goo Goo Dolls (when they were punk and not writing crap mall ballads) and a hint of The Posies. There are keyboards when appropriate but this ain't dance rock. Well, actually it is, just not in the way most have come to think of it in a post-LCD Soundsystem era. This is the kind of music girls in tight jeans that dig guys with long hair will dance to. And it's fun. For music written at a low point in Mr. V's life, it certainly comes across as a Goddamn good time.

The band plays tonight with an excellent local bill—again furthering the argument the rock scene is doing just fine—that includes The Dead On and Friends Of Italian Opera.

You can download the album for the price of a Tweet or Facebook post below.

DOWNLOAD: Hard Kiss - Hot Trash

Hard Kiss plays tonight, Aug. 16, at Township, 2200 N. California, 9 p.m. $8, 21+