Friday 10
CORDERO, HIGH HAWK Great news: New York’s CORDERO has signed to Bloodshot, which will release their latest album, En Este Momento, on Tuesday–hopefully that means we’ll see them around more often. Cordero’s named for Ani Cordero, who started the group in the late 90s with the help of Howe Gelb and Joey Burns; after moving to New York she teamed up with her husband, Chris Verene, late of DQE and the RockaTeens. On the new album, where she and Verene are joined by bassist Eric Eble and trumpeter Omar Little (Frankie Lymon’s nephew), the band confidently melds a southwestern, Calexico-ish romanticism with buoyant Nuyorican street music (most songs are in Spanish), and Verene’s drumming anchors the sound without ever trapping it. –Monica Kendrick
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Rip HIGH HAWK’s self-titled debut EP into iTunes, delete the pointless instrumental track that opens it, and you’re left with a five-song set of the best sort of beardy, psychy roots rock that seems to say “Chicago” to the nonmidwestern world. Far from trad purists, they know that rubbing country twang up against far-out influences is good for some kinky thrills: “Ukelele and Lie” welds an old-timey ukulele melody to a cocky, vamping, oddly sexy bass line. The stoner-pop cut “Woman” shows up a second time as a full-blown psychedelic workout, complete with tabla-style drumming–making it clear that High Hawk’s willing to fuck with any style, even its own. –Miles Raymer Cordero headlines, Garrison Starr plays second, and High Hawk opens. 10 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, 773-525-2508, $8 in advance, $10 at the door.
ESPERS, who open, are one of the very few New Beard America acts that’ve managed to hold my attention. Credit front man Greg Weeks, whose eclectic multi-instrumentality matches his sheer musicality (a rare thing in psych-folk circles) and who demonstrated great taste by inviting formerly local guitar whiz Kevin Barker (aka Currituck Co.) to tour with him a few years ago. The expansive mood on last year’s The Weed Tree (Locust Music), an all-acoustic album of mostly covers, is hard to dislike; everyone’s shared the feeling of grandeur in quietude that the music captures. 8 PM, the Vic, 3145 N. Sheffield, 773-472-0449 or 312-559-1212, $21, 18+. –J. Niimi
SMOKING POPES, BAYSIDE See Saturday. Both bands also play a free in-store at 2 PM at Tower Records, 2301 N. Clark; call 773-477-5994. The Smoking Popes headline, Bayside plays second, and May or May Not opens. 10 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark, 773-549-0203 or 312-559-1212, $19, 18+.
GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC George Clinton’s recent two-disc set with the P-Funk All Stars, How Late Do You Have 2 B B 4 U R Absent? (The C Kunspyruhzy), is a mess–flatulent, fascinating, and ultimately inexplicable. Bobby Womack singing “Whole Lotta Shakin’” is no less memorable than Prince pitching in on “Paradigm” (as in “Brother, can you . . . ?”). “I Can Dance,” a 15-minute interview with a stripper set to an unmoored guitar solo, upstages the sturdy soul women showcased elsewhere. And whether he’s sleep-funkin’ through “Bounce 2 This” or manhandling a drum-and-bass version of “Goodnight Sweetheart,” Clinton defies good taste, aesthetic standards, and rational understanding with a panache that no arty noise band could ever summon. 9 PM, House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn, 312-923-2000 or 312-559-1212, $33.50, 18+. –Keith Harris
