Local Options
By Lizz Kannenberg in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 29, 2008 6:05PM
Oh damn, we're back with Local Options, the weekly Chicagoist roundup of of our proud city's best live music output. Remember, this is just a sampling - if you've got an ear to the ground and can make a suggestion of a great Chicago-based band playing somewhere this week, leave it in the comments. Here we go...
Tuesday, Sept. 30
Parks and Gardens @ Sonoteque w/ Shea Ako, John McEntire, DJs Damon Locks and Wayne Montana, 9:00 p.m., FREE - Tankboy has already expounded on the virtues of this minimalist, scratchy elctro-rock trio, so I'll just encourage you to catch them tomorrow night for nada at Sonoteque.
Percolator @ Schubas w/ Born Ruffians and The Coast, 9:00 p.m., $12 - Digging deep into the quirk-rock foundation of college radio in the late 80s/early 90s, Percolator instantly draw comparisons to oddball favorites like Pavement, the Meat Puppets, and Built to Spill. They're firmly entrenched the little corner of indiedom that's already given us Wolf Parade and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
Wednesday, Oct. 1
Rachael Yamagata @ Lakeshore Theater w/ Kevin Devine, 7:00 p.m., $20 - Chicago native and former Bumpus songstress Rachael Yamagata is just about a week from the release of her second full-length, the double set Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart.
Friday, Oct. 3
Helicopters @ Schubas w/ Headlights and World's First Flying Machine, 10:00 p.m., $12 - Helicopters won a spot on the 2007 Lollapalooza bill by winning the organizers' Last Band Standing contest with their electronic framework for artfully arranged looping. Now working with more sophisticated arrangements and nuances, the band is set to turn heads in 2009.
The Deccas @ Empty Bottle w/ The Dials, The Mathematicians and The Ettes, 9:00 p.m., $8 - Chicago's #1 Brill Building-era pop group is The Deccas, and their sunny take on classic girl-group pop from the halcyon days of rocknroll is a breath of fresh air in the pretentious indie race to recycle the past.
Photo of Helicopters by Patti Farfan