The Cribs
August 5, 2007
Lollapalooza
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The Cribs were the first band I saw at Lollapalooza and the only noteworthy Britpop act I caught (I did see Paolo Nutini and wasn't greatly impressed). It was cool to hear their catchy Our Bovine Public ringing out as I walked through Grant Park for a closer view of what turned out to be a surprisingly solid, at times stellar, 50-minute performance. I only have the latest of their 3 albums and would call it decent, but not the best of current Britpop, though I know they are getting some acclaim back home. Comprised of three brothers from Yorkshire, England, who spent some time recording in Chicago (which explains singer/guitarist Ryan Jarman's reference to living on Kedzie Avenue), the Cribs weren't the day's highlight, but justified my getting there at 12:30. I'm not sure why they have such bad haircuts (at least 2 of the 3 brothers were oddly coifed), but their music is a cut above.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Concert Review: The Automatic
The Automatic
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Subterranean
Chicago, IL
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I opted to see the Automatic (or as they were billed in America, The Automatic Automatic, due to some nebulous name conflict) in a late night, $10 show largely because I really liked two of their songs, Raoul and Monster, off their otherwise OK but not phenomenal album, Not Accepted Anywhere. And from their All Music Guide capsule, I'd envisioned them to be arty, if not somewhat dorky. But I was pleasantly surprised with how good, and mostly straightforward they were. Their singer/bassist was a large, affable kid named Robin Hawkins who wasn't at all what I expected, though they did have a hyperkinetic keyboardist, Alex Pennie, to provide a bit of what I did expect. Anyway, they were much more of a straightforward, rock band who made the songs sound better than they did on the album and really impressed me beyond their two best songs (solid hits in the UK). They only played 45 minutes to less then 50 people, but those there wanted more so it was a bit disappointing that they didn't play an encore to really end the night right.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Subterranean
Chicago, IL
@@@@
I opted to see the Automatic (or as they were billed in America, The Automatic Automatic, due to some nebulous name conflict) in a late night, $10 show largely because I really liked two of their songs, Raoul and Monster, off their otherwise OK but not phenomenal album, Not Accepted Anywhere. And from their All Music Guide capsule, I'd envisioned them to be arty, if not somewhat dorky. But I was pleasantly surprised with how good, and mostly straightforward they were. Their singer/bassist was a large, affable kid named Robin Hawkins who wasn't at all what I expected, though they did have a hyperkinetic keyboardist, Alex Pennie, to provide a bit of what I did expect. Anyway, they were much more of a straightforward, rock band who made the songs sound better than they did on the album and really impressed me beyond their two best songs (solid hits in the UK). They only played 45 minutes to less then 50 people, but those there wanted more so it was a bit disappointing that they didn't play an encore to really end the night right.
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