Friday 19
Sunday 21
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DEAD 60S Though these Liverpool lads put out their self-titled debut LP this May in the U.S., it won’t be out till September in the UK–and consequently they’ve been beating the stateside circuit like a rug all summer, playing Lollapalooza, a leg of the Warped Tour, and a string of dates supporting the Bravery. The aforementioned LP plays a bit like a random assemblage of hooks and riffs from several different Clash records, without anything that stands out much for awfulness or for brilliance. The single “Loaded Gun” is pretty catchy, though, and in the band’s defense they do at least sound like Clash records are their natural vocabulary. Walking Concert opens. 8 PM, Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee, 773-489-3160 or 312-559-1212, $10. –Monica Kendrick
SPOTTISWOODE & HIS ENEMIES Like a wired Bryan Ferry fronting the Incredible String Band, but with horns like the Dresden Dolls use sometimes–oh, never mind. A mere simile’s got no chance against this New York group’s latest, Building a Road (High Wire), where English front man Spottiswoode takes on Leonard Cohen’s tortured style of confronting the spiritual and the carnal simultaneously, realizes it all comes from the blues and the Bible anyway, and heads straight for the Source, high probability of annihilation be damned. He comes out of it with his hair barely ruffled. Thomas Pace opens. 8:30 PM, Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace, 773-478-4408 or 866-468-3401, $8 in advance, $10 at the door. –Monica Kendrick
Olympia’s Old Haunts released their first full-length, Fallow Field (Kill Rock Stars), in the spring, and it blasts through all Koufax’s favorite poses and then some with a giddy, delirious, nervous energy–they’re charming like a creative and curious toddler for whom you’re not personally responsible.
Thursday 25
