The last band to combine the Civil War and big guitars successfully was Guns N' Roses, until Titus Andronicus came along. The punk combo from New Jersey has been honing their stage show through relentless touring over the past couple years, transforming from a band seemingly unsure how to capture a stage the size of Metro's into a band entrancing thousands at last year's Pitchfork Music Festival. Their sophomore album, The Monitor, does indeed have a Civil War theme though it's loose enough to include odes to keggers rubbing up against songs proclaiming the hopelessness of the battlefields. more ›

Previously: Day One more ›

We were big fans of the debut album from New Jersey boys Titus Andronicus with its swirling vats of blood spattered and screeching arena punk. Their new album, The Monitor, is set to come out in early March and it's a slightly more focused affair in that it's production is a little more polished, but that hasn't rubbed the rough edged delivery away. In fact, sonically, the new disc bears a resemblance to Conor Oberst's Desaparecidos* had that group gained a penchant for penning 6+ minute epics churning with fury and the fearlessness to throw whatever works, including boozy brass sections, into the mix. Call it what you will -- we're going with prog-punk -- we think you'll agree it's pretty arresting. Here's an advance treat of the new disc for you to swim around in. more ›

Titus Andronicus pens desperate caterwauling stadium punk that steamrolls over everything in its path. And by that description you might think this band cares nothing for nuance, but there are subtleties buried in the layers of guitars fighting their way to singe your eyebrows clean off your head. They're opening for country-punkers (although that description doesn't really do 'em justice) Lucero -- who always draw a large Chicago crowd, so get there early and secure a sweet spot in which to not-so-gently rock. more ›

We really like the sloppy Springsteen-punk of Titus Andronicus. Their debut, The Airing of Grievances, is chock-full of Springsteen-ian anthems fueled by snotty punk speed-freakery. Their self-titled anthem kicks off with drums that sound like Phil Spector manning a cell-phone recorder before exploding into a seriously distorted harmonica and finishing with the band injecting an optimistic fervor into the nihilistic refrain of "your life is over." more ›

The Pitchfork Music Festival kicks off its 2008 edition this weekend at Union Park, and we're going to highlight some of the "can't miss" acts of the weekend on Chicagoist over the next few days. Today we'll tackle eight can't-miss acts from the sold-out Saturday line-up. more ›

Well, Lou was already gonna be at The Pitchfork Music Festival (July 18-20) anyway since Dinosaur Jr is playing that Sunday, but now he'll be there opening night as well, leading Sebadoh through Bubble and Scrape! Other new additions are: The Hold Steady (squee!), Elf Power, Caribou, Icy Demons, Boban Markovic Orkestar, Titus Andronicus, Bon Iver, Times New Viking, HEALTH, High Places, and Mahjongg. more ›