So, what are you doing this month? If your answer is anything less than

1) Playing a show on every Monday in September (thats 4 shows, count em!)

2) Releasing a record
3) Teaching a new drummer your entire set list
4) Hosting an art show
... then May or May Not has soundly whooped you. There are plenty of opportunities to get out this month and check out a band that deserves your attention, so here are the details.

Schubas has a really great Monday night residency program where one band is selected to host shows throughout the month, and September features this Two Thumbs Down Records artist. May or May Not play an intelligent brand of indie-pop music, similar to bands like Beulah, Belle and Sebastian, and Super Furry Animals, but with a slight twist of prog-esque moments that keep listeners on their toes. For my tastes, its a perfect combination that culminates in a fantastic new record, entitled A Kaleidoscope Of Egos, which very much took me by suprise. Not that I didn't think that MOMN was up to the task, as they have released one previous LP (Colors Only Bees Can See, 2005) and a fantastic EP (Bike, 2006), but this release really showcases the maturation process of a band that has found their collective voice, and the end result is a well crafted record that one can't help but want to listen to over and over again. For someone who doesn't exactly have an extreme fondness of indie-pop (that would be me), A Kaleidoscope Of Egos has quite simply won me over and shown that the right mix of pop sensibility and quirkiness can warm even the coldest metalhead heart. "I Get By" best highlights what I like most about the record. Download it here or check it out on their Myspace page, along with several others from the record. The album will officially be released at their final Schubas performance on September 24th.

In addition to the record, MOMN collaborated with friends/artists on creating artwork for each of their songs on the record, which will get its own showcase on September 14th. It's great to see that bands still care about the tangible/visual element of their efforts, given the current digital age where album art, liner notes, and the actual ownership of albums are often brushed aside to deal with more 'important' things like 'how may external hard drives do I need to store all of my pirated music?'

Yes, MOMN U DID THAT.

If Mucca Pazza was given a proportionate amount of guest list spots that "normal" bands receive, chances are they would outdraw 50% of shows happening in Chicago in any given week on a guest list alone. In other words, Mucca Pazza has a ridiculous amount of people in their band.

Make no mistake about it, Mucca Pazza, led by Mark Messing (who also plays a mean sousaphone), is not hurting when it comes to poor attendance at shows. However, they could always stand to make new fans, and for those who haven't seen this "astounding circus punk marching band", get your fanny over to The Hideout this weekend! You will have 4 chances to do so, starting tonight and running through Saturday evening.

Coupling the intimate nature of The Hideout with a boisterous horn ensemble, a rumbling percussion section, and you are asking for quite a memorable evening. I've had the pleasure of witnessing such a spectacle at the Hideout before, and believe me when I say it is totally worth the price of admission. Think of it like high school all over again, except now it's cool to be in marching band, its not halftime of a football game (your school was getting their asses kicked, anyways), and you don't need to pass that flask of Popov underneath the bleachers. Ok, maybe not....

For details, check the extended entry.

To see the wonder that is Mucca Pazza, check out the following video (yes, its really the Conan O'brien show).

I've decided to add a new category to Double Time Feel. I felt like there are so many bands that have been influential to the development of the music scene in Chicago, and they need to be recognized. The bands I'll mention here are no longer together, but in my opinion were vital to the history of music in Chicago. If you have any suggestions for such bands, I'm open to your thoughts.

I'd been thinking about making this a weekly contribution for quite some time, but it never gained much momentum because of everything else I already feel like I'm not getting to that is current. However, when I saw that Trenchmouth started a myspace music page, I jumped at the chance to get the ball rolling.

Trenchmouth were undoubtedly in a class of their own. There may have been a very distinct "Chicago" sound through the 80's/early 90's, but Trenchmouth redefined those boundaries and infused a very different set of influences in their sound. As with a lot of these early bands, I completely missed out on the live experience, but when you go back and listen to the Chicago punk bands of the day, such as Articles of Faith, Naked Raygun, Effigies, etc., it's pretty easy to distinguish what they were going for. Trenchmouth took that ethos and expounded on it, exploring territory that may have caught most 'punks' of the time off-guard.

I could go on and on, but instead I'll direct you to the myspace link where you can check out all sorts of stuff, including a great live video captured at Emo's in Austin, TX back in 1992. As dopey as the myspace world can be sometimes, I do think its a great resource to get a decent snapshot of a band, and it's good to see that bands from back in the day are starting to surface, whether by fans or the musicians themselves.