The Treatment
blue meanies, bollweevils The thought of a seven-piece ska-punk band reuniting is generally a mortifying prospect, but old-schoolers the Blue Meanies were angular and artful enough that lumping them in with the rest of the pack is a little insulting. They haven’t released a record or played out regularly in over five years (and still won’t officially say they’ve broken up), but if the reports from their late-2004 Metro show are any indication, it’s safe to expect the same trademark energy the group had in their prime. –Jessica Hopper
PINEBENDER In the three years since these locals released their last album they’ve reconfigured their lineup: drummer Stephen Howard has taken over for Matt Clark (now in Ambulette and White/Light) on baritone guitar, making room for Dennis Stacer behind the kit. Chris Hansen still plays guitar and, to use the term loosely, sings. Despite all the reshuffling, they pretty much pick up where they left off on the new Working Nine to Wolf (Lovitt): the guitar frenzies sound like Dinosaur Jr caught in a stinging sandstorm, and though the music is sometimes downright formless, the trio isn’t quite brave enough for out-and-out noise rock. This is a release party. Stnnng and Tight Phantomz open. a 10 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, 773-278-6600 or 800-594-8499, $8. –Monica Kendrick
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
a 7:30 PM, Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker, 312-332-2244, $42-$179. –Barbara Yaross
a 10 PM, Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace, 773-478-4408 or 866-468-3401, $20, 18+. –Brian Nemtusak
sunday5
matt bauder’s deserts Reedist Matt Bauder was one of the most impressive musicians to move here in the late 90s, when the city’s bustling improvised music scene attracted a wave of young players. He has a gorgeous, full-bodied tone on tenor sax, full of a harmonic complexity that recalls Joe Lovano, and he’s not just a terrific jazz player but has also mastered more texture-oriented work. On his beautiful 2003 album, Weary Already of the Way (482 Music), he used postproduction computer manipulations to transform long tones into slow-motion elaborations, beginning with pointillistic splatters and ending with complex lines. He left Chicago in 2001 to study electronic music at Wesleyan University and later moved to New York; he’s here to debut a new project, named after Edgard Varese’s electroacoustic piece Deserts, that features guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Jason Ajemian, and New York violist Jessica Pavone. Bauder says the group’s goal is to create “as much variation in texture and timbre as possible from the instrumentation,” which suggests a series of sound pieces rather than a jazz concert. Bauder will augment his horns with a laptop, and the other players will use amplification and effects. RSVP required. a 7 PM, Gallery 37, 66 E. Randolph, 312-742-8497. F A –Peter Margasak
