Last Friday the organizers for the Green Music Festival announced their Subterranean and Big Creek Productions curated 2011 lineup and we instantly had some crazy déjà vu. The weekend of June 25 Wicker Park's streets will not only be line with family and eco-friendly vendors and activities, but musical acts like Yo La Tengo, The Life and Times, Les Savy Fav and The Thermals. Does this lineup sound vaguely familiar? Well, it really should since it is really close the the line-up of the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival. Don't get us wrong, we aren't complaining. For a $5 donation Green's lineup is pretty freakin' great and we are really intrigued by the green and organic festival food options that will be presented. more ›

Jim DeRogatis uncovered this summer's line-up for the Monday after work Downtown Sound music series in Millennium Park and whoa are we impressed. We knew Hum was going to headline the Memorial Day date but nothing could have prepared us for The Besnard Lakes opening the series on May 24. Their latest opus The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night is already in the running as one of our favorite albums of 2010 and the idea of hearing its epic songs emanating from the Pritzker Pavilion is enough to make us mess our pants in glee. more ›

Now We Can See, the most recent release by Portland's The Thermals, bursts with optimistic energy even as its lyrics burn a caustic path. The band works a rather simple musical attack, opting for chunky hummable chords crossed with sing-song lyrics only a handful of steps off the playground. Bitterness rarely plays this satisfyingly or this toe-tappingly. We disagree with critics who seem to think it's a step backward from 2006's The Body, The Blood, The Machine, but do the album makes no great artistic leaps forward from that point. more ›

The Thermals have always sounded kind of like Superchunck to us, only tighter and way more political. In our opinion, those are all good things.Their appearance at this year's Wicker Park Summerfest was a highlight amongst the live acts performing, and last year's The Body, The Blood, The Machine remains a pretty electrifying punk rock diatribe. Opening the show is Chicago's Chin Up Chin Up. We've written about them in the past, and we're always... more ›

We’re gonna cut right to the chase, since it’s Friday and we’re all clock watching like woah: The Saturday lineup on the north stage of the Wicker Park Summerfest might be the best $5 you spend on live music all summer: more ›

Well, the list started leaking last week for the (far superior) North Stage at this year's Wicker Park Summerfest, and now we have the full line-up. Not bad ... not bad at all. We're looking to sipping beer with the hipsters AND the yuppies that weekend. more ›

Chicagoist recently opened our monthly Comcast bill to get a $156 surprise. That works out to $1,872 a year for cable TV and internet access. Now in all fairness, we do have a few fancy extras: HD, DVR, and HBO. But even with the alphabet soup, we were alarmed by the ever increasing heights of our Comcast bill. As it turns out, we had gotten used to the promotional pricing we received when we started... more ›