Friday 24
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
MEGAN REILLY For her second album, the new Let Your Ghost Go (Carrot Top), Memphis-raised singer Megan Reilly is backed again by a band filled with heavyweights like drummer Steve Goulding (Mekons), bassist Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu), and guitarist Tim Foljahn (Two Dollar Guitar). But the players don’t draw attention to themselves, showing an admirable restraint around Reilly’s breathy, delicate voice and letting the songs reveal their charms softly. Mostly the mildly twangy arrangements percolate gently as Reilly whisper-sings through the bittersweet melodies. When she does lean into a song, her voice cuts through like a scythe, but even on a more aggressive number like “Tropic of Cancer” she judiciously uses her firepower, which makes her most emphatic gestures that much more effective. Reilly has credited producer Sue Garner for the disc’s spartan approach; Garner, also a terrific singer, guitarist, and bassist, will accompany her here. Low Skies headline; Jacob Ross and Mike Bulington spin. 10 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, $8. –Peter Margasak
VITALIC Last year French electro polymath Pascal Arbez released OK Cowboy (Play It Again Sam), a full-length compilation of 12-inch singles and EP tracks he’d released under the name Vitalic. His love of Daft Punk and Giorgio Moroder come through in the aggro techno and edgy Italo-disco that flavor much of his material, especially on early tracks such as “La Rock 01” and “Poney Part 2” (both from the 2001 Poney EP). But he ventures into other territory as well: “My Friend Dario” is omnivorous Euro house, and “Wooo” is like Kraftwerk on krack. Vitalic headlines, Sleeparchive plays third, Dave Siska plays second, and Chris Widman opens. 10 PM, Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark, 773-549-4140 or 312-559-1212, $10. –J. Niimi
ELECTRIC SIX, THE FEVER It’s hard to pull off jokes as obvious as “Gay Bar” and “Naked Pictures (of Your Mother)” once your audience knows what to expect. So on Senor Smoke (finally released in the U.S. on Metropolis Records this winter, a year after it came out in Europe), Detroit cheese rockers the ELECTRIC SIX juice up their tunes with ludicrously overblown invocations of the apocalypse: on “Rock and Roll Evacuation” front man Dick Valentine intones a warning about today’s “evil generation” (“Evil boys eating evil hamburgers / Evil boys eating evil fries”), and on the cold war power ballad “Jimmy Carter” he quotes from Yeats’s “The Second Coming.” But if you prefer your jokes obvious, there’s still “Vibrator,” about how Valentine’s gal doesn’t need one. –Keith Harris
CHICAGO SOUND I like the idea of some local hipster talking to a friend from out of town about the Chicago Sound in a loud, crowded bar, so that the friend only half follows along and gets the impression there’s some sort of coherent, citywide musical movement involving a dozen drunk assholes bashing out classic-rock covers on hopelessly out-of-tune gear. This inspirationally atrocious supergroup was originally convened in 1998 by Flying Luttenbachers drummer Weasel Walter and U.S. Maple guitarist Todd Rittman (now of Cheer-Accident)–Rittman played drums and Weasel was usually one of several front men. Out of commission since Weasel’s move to the Bay Area in early 2003, the Chicago Sound is regrouping (sans Rittman) for a one-night-only reunion, and many of the usual suspects will participate, including current and former members of Lair of the Minotaur, 7000 Dying Rats, and Behold! the Living Corpse. The band’s MO is to play a mix CD through the monitors and try to follow it, and past sets have had loose themes, like “na na” songs (“Hey Jude,” “Centerfold,” “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’”) and cowbell songs (“Don’t Fear the Reaper,” “Mississippi Queen,” “Working for the Weekend”). For this special occasion they’ll be playing their “greatest hits.” Gays in the Military and the Black Bear Combo open. 10 PM, Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont, 773-281-4444 or 866-468-3401, $5 in advance, $7 at the door, 18+. –J. Niimi
