The Whole Fantastic ... You Tell Me

By Lizz Kannenberg in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 16, 2007 12:47PM

The You Tell Me Cookie of the Week goes to “some guy,” who suggested that we check out new Chicago transplants The Whole Fantastic World last night at the Darkroom. This dedicated reader’s description (“Spoon playing the Police as prog rockers”) combined with our love of the Darkroom’s comfy booths on our weekend-weary bums proved to be an irresistible Sunday night, so we took a deep breath, ordered a cocktail, and settled in for the rock show.

Apparently Chicagoist got scooped on these guys; they made CMJ’s Top 200 of 2004 with their first full-length, Chime!, and have received consistent play in the past from perennial Internet radio hitmaker WOXY.com. One thing was clear from the get go — these guys have some chops. The rhythm section of Craig Hamilton on bass and keys and Palaxy Tracks veteran Chuck Harling on drums are about as tight as you’ll find on a Sunday in this city, and Daniel Sherron’s tenor floats above it all in a sometimes-awkward , sometimes-awesome amalgamation of Lindsey Buckingham and Geddy Lee. The three-piece’s indietastic jams filled the modestly-attended club like packing popcorn, making sense of the space between their more-complicated-than-average arrangements. “Some guy’s” description was spot-on: TWFW combines what gets the Chuck Taylors tappin’ at dirty rock clubs with all of the proggy excess of the 70’s. That’s not to say one can sum these guys up in a single sentence, though; one peek at Chicagoist’s notes from the show proves that we could have been seeing several different bands over the course of the 40-minute set. Yep, we actually leaned against the bar and wrote such nuggets as “The indie answer to Maroon 5, minus the misogyny” and “Modest Mouse gets stoned and tries to turn Pavement tunes into epic art-rock jams.”

Intrigued? Check 'em out on Wednesday at 5 p.m. during an in-store performance at Permanent Records, 1914 W. Chicago Ave.

Now, where’s the party this week? Hit us with your suggestions for the overlooked, under-appreciated, or so-new-it’s-still-got-the-tags artist we should check out between now and next Monday. Remember the rules:

1) The show has to be this week, between April 16 – April 22.
2) Tell us why we should check ’em out and how you’re so savvy to be in the know about ’em.