LAST MINUTE PLANS: Bird Names At The Empty Bottle

By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 7, 2011 7:40PM

We mentioned last week that CAVE is playing a free show at the Empty Bottle tonight, but it turns out the once-local, weirdo-pop project, Bird Names, is returning to Chicago to headline the show, making for a night jam-packed with local psychedelia and rife for sonic exploration.

Bird Names relocated to Athens, GA, last summer, but before that they spent years playing local DIY venues and house shows and proving themselves a driving force in Chicago’s experimental music community. Oh the memories - drinking Pabst in a packed and sweaty Pilsen basement and swaying involuntarily to their off-kilter, often improvised melodies.

This was all back when they were a five piece, but now it’s down to two core members - Phelan la Velle and David Lineal - though they’re bringing along a full band for tonight’s show. Even with the new arrangement, they haven’t strayed much from their inventive approach to psychpop. Their recently-revealed demos from 2011 have the same lo-fi, whimsical, dizzying, stream-of-consciousness qualities for which we’ve come to love Bird Names. You can stream or download them for free over at Bird Names' Bandcamp page.

Opening tonight will be local psych-punkers Running. With CAVE and Bird Names following, this show is pretty much guaranteed to be mind-bendingly good. If you can’t make it out to the Bottle tonight, there’s still a chance to get your Bird Names fix - they’ll perform live on Northwestern’s station, WNUR 89.3FM, at 11:30 a.m tomorrow morning. Then they hit the road again to finish off their Midwest November tour.

Bird Names performs tonight, November 7, at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western, 9:30 p.m., FREE, 21+