The month of January is usually slow in terms of shows and touring bands, but certainly not slow enough to warrant an entire month of not updating my site. There were definitely some great shows that occurred during the month, but I could find neither the time nor the resources to document any of it (my camera decided to break on New Years Eve, not helping matters much). For such negligence, I apologize. I'll try to keep posting on the regular, and February is shaping up to be a great month for music in Chicago, starting off with tonight!

Pinebender shows are a lot like my recent posting habits. They just don't happen very often, which is unfortunate considering how great this band is to see live. The dense wall of sound they are able to create, as a trio and no bass player, is something to behold. There are lots of bands in Chicago who go to great lengths to expand the borders of music and push the envelope of creativity, which is obviously a vital element to any music scene. However, as good as that can be, I think sometimes people forget how great it is to see a band get up on stage to play inspiring, dynamic, ass-kicking rock music. Pinebender do this better than many bands here in Chicago, and their straightforward approach to writing riffs and melodic passages is such a breath of fresh air to me because they execute so well.

Check out the tunes on their myspace, or this video for "Broadcast All Your Dreams" from Pinebender's 2006 release, Working Nine To Wolf.