Battles stopped by the Vic in the middle of their US tour on Friday, this time as a three-piece. It’s hard to ignore the gorilla in the room, or lack thereof, as singer and effective frontman, Tyondai Braxton left the band last year to pursue solo projects. But once the trio got started, that gorilla didn’t seem so big anymore. more ›

Battles is a band that mixes the math rock with the beats that make you want to dance. We remember seeing them at a totally stuffed, wall-to-wall people, show at Double Door a few years ago and were blown away at the effect they had on the crowd (and our feet). At that time they were a quartet with much of the visual focus falling on mulch-instrumentalist and vocalist Tyondai Braxton's gyrations behind his wall of gear while hisd bandmates Ian Williams, John Stanier and Dave Konopka whirled up an insane mixture of sound and rhythm that filled the room. Braxton left during the recording of the band's latest album, Gloss Drop, and the group continued on as a three piece with guest vocalists. The result sheds some of the proggier tendencies of their debut, Mirrored, but the band hasn't changed their focus on the gears inside their songs that make you want to move. Drummer John Stanier took a few minutes from the road to answer a few of our questions via email as the band made their way toward Chicago for their show tonight at The Vic. more ›

Regular readers of the site know by now that we're straight up suckers for pets and anything involved with the cuteness thereof. Thankfully, on a slow news Friday in August, WCIU is providing us with some distractions. The same people who brought you Puppy Cam are now bringing us a daily face-off of Cat versus Dog. Election-wise, neither Mark Kirk or Alexi Giannoulias seem like they actually want to win that Senate race but Nummy and Crew look like they're locked in a heated battle. So step over to WCIU's site, brighten up your day with some voting and, if the moment strikes you, consider adopting one of your own. more ›

DeRo has the lowdown on a bunch of other confirmed Lollapalooza acts. We already knew Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against The machine would be headlining, but now you can add Racontuers, Kanye West, and Wilco to that list. We'd bitch about the fact that three of the six headliners have already played Lolla, which in its current incarnation is still a neophyte, but fuck it, we love all the headliners so we'll keep our trap shut. more ›

BATTLES drummer John Stanier more ›