If last Thursday night was any indication of things to come, I think we can put the sophomore slump theory to bed when talking about one of Chicago's up and coming bands, Sleepout. A week before heading to Chicago's own Electrical Audio, the band previewed many of the tracks that will eventually become their next record, entitled Not Even Dust. The band is fresh off their debut album, I Was Your Shroud, released in late 2006. In terms of music, one year is generally considered a short period of time to be recording a follow-up, but having left with the good impressions after last Thursday's show, I'm eagerly awaiting a finished copy.

Sleepout consists of members from two other Chicago bands, Mt St Helens and Driftless Pony Club. It began as a collaboration of friends from various bands (including Chinup Chinup, The Ghost, and May or May Not), and has evolved into a project that has drawn sonic comparisons to bands like Teenage Fanclub, Spiritualized, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Here is a track I recorded at the Empty Bottle, "Three Towns", which will appear on their upcoming record, scheduled for release sometime in late February of 2008.

If you don't listen to Sound Opinions on Chicago Public Radio ... well... you know what I'm going to say next. Regardless of your own personal tastes, its great to hear two critics (Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot) who are geniunely passionate about music, and their range of knowledge is quite staggering. In fact it borders on frightening. I've always been in awe of people who can rattle off facts, stories, and general minutiae about bands with the greatest of ease. Sure, most people can do it for a few of their favorites, but to listen to 2 humans sound like a virtual music catalog, and still add personality and charisma to the discussion is a real joy to hear.

Tonight, they are appearing at the Music Box Theatre in Lakeview for a special screening of Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. When the film is over, they'll be doing a Q&A session for those in attendance. When the night is over, even if you are a huge fan of The Clash, you will most definitely leave more enlightened than when you walked in.

Whaddya' know, Chicago Public Radio gets two posts in a row! On my commute to work this morning, I caught an interesting segment on Eight Forty-Eight about a new documentary that explores the Chicago punk scene from 1977 to 1984. Entitled You Weren't There, the film covers bands such as Naked Raygun, Strike Under, Effigies, and Articles of Faith. It also goes on to explain how venues opened up around Chicago that gave these bands the opportunity to be heard. In fact, it still boggles my mind that the Cubby Bear, perhaps as punk rock as the Pope, used to be a hotbed for punk shows.

Check out the radio interview with the producers, and visit their Myspace page for more information on the screening of the film, as well as a "surprise show" that will be held at the Beat Kitchen.

Forget about Black Friday... Black Wednesday is where all the action is. In what is considered one of the biggest nights to be out and about, this year keeps with the tradition of going out and doing everything in your power to wake up the next morning with a defeated liver, and then gorging yourself on Thanksgiving food.

Wouldn't you know, the Double Door is giving you chance to save a little money, or at least the opportunity to spend that cover charge at the bar. Yes, a free show with two Chicago heavyweights, Chinup Chinup and Catfish Haven. Chinup Chinup is fresh off a 2 week tour out West with one of the newer signings to Matador Records, The Ponys. Catfish Haven have been busy finishing up their follow up record to 2006's Tell Me, on Secretly Canadian Records. As an added bonus, Tight Phantomz frontman Mike Lust will join join Catfish Haven for this set, so expect some 6 string pyrotechnics.

Any way you look it, this show is the perfect beginning to your 4 day weekend. 2 great Chicago bands for free means more booze for you, and to wash it all down tomorrow with some football and turkey makes the Thanksgiving weekend sound even better.

Chinup Chinup:

Catfish Haven:

Like them or not, Smashing Pumpkins did not just leave an indelible mark on Chicago, but an entire generation of kids who were exposed to their music in the early 90's. It could be argued that their current influence still reigns supreme today, but I think one would have a harder time proving that point. They arrived at the right time and were able to cash in on the commercial success of the "alternative" movement, and managed to build an eclectic body of work that has often come under all sorts intense criticism and scrutiny from fans and media alike... but of course I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

So why even mention a band that obviously isn't hurting for exposure or needing yet another article to be written about them? Well, I had pretty much forgotten about the Smashing Pumpkins and how much I used to be into them, but recent events (read: getting hooked up with a copy of the Singles soundtrack) brought back a flood of memories when that riff from 'Drown' kicks in. Maybe it's just me, but I think sometimes its too easy to write off how good a band like Smashing Pumpkins were. They came up through the ranks the same way most other bands do, only their peak was light years past what 99.9% of bands could ever hope to experience.

I found a few videos on youtube that date back to 1992 at some club in Milwaukee (according to various comments) where the band played 'Drown', and introduce it as a song that will be in a movie that "you don't know about yet". If the date is right, this would have been just before Siamese Dream was released, an album that is pretty hard to dislike no matter what your tastes. However, for me its one of those records that maybe finds its way into my rotation once a year, and I always end up saying "damn this record is so good... i should listen to it more often", but of course I don't.

Anyways, here are some links to the 1992 show I mentioned. Its a pretty rare glimpse into one of those "before the entire world knew who they were" moments, and to have been there must be a rad memory for those in the crowd.

Drown

Sweet Sweet

Frail and Bedazzled

Disarm

Tristessa

I have covered both Antelope and Watchers before, and it just so happens they will be playing together at the Empty Bottle tonight. This will be the last show for Watchers, so if you can make it out to catch them one last time, I highly recommend it.

Antelope is currently on another US tour in support of their latest full length, Reflector, which is shaping up to be one of my favorite records of 2007.