Lion King

By chicago_chris in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 28, 2004 7:17PM

Though the phrase "Christian rock" would likely (and rightly) send most music fans fleeing with hands cupped over their ears, Pedro the Lion's Dave Bazan manages to inject a spirituality into his songs that never becomes too preachy. He mercifully keeps things subtler than, say, Creed. (Who now have officially broken up. Thank God.) The fact that Bazan listens to and is noticeably influenced by bands like Radiohead also helps immeasurably. Pedro the Lion, perhaps most of all, works as great background music: Chicagoist has written our fair share of term papers to the pessimistically titled albums It's Hard to Find a Friend and The Only Reason I Feel Secure. It'll be interesting to see how their sound translates to a live setting tonight at the Abbey Pub.

Another quality act, troubadour extraordinaire John Vanderslice, will open. Over the last few years, he's produced or worked with a veritable who's who of the indie-rock world – everyone from The Mountain Goats to Death Cab for Cutie to Beulah, all Chicagoist favorites – but has recorded plenty of quirky pop of his own. He'll be supporting his recent (and excellent) album Cellar Door, whose title makes us think Vanderslice has been either reading some Tolkien or watching Donnie Darko a little too much. Disregard the obvious geekiness there and come out for a double bill worth your hard-earned $14.