The weather may be barely warm enough for short sleeves in Chicago, but Jamie Lidell still managed to set the Abbey Pub ablaze on Wednesday night (June 4). Yes, he sings like he’s possessed by the soul of Ray Charles and commands a crack band like a young Stevie Wonder. Yes, it’s curious that this whirlwind of mid-century American jazz, soul, and funk comes packaged in form of a skinny white English bloke, but it’s the less obvious flashes of quirky pluck that proved Lidell’s virtuosity to the sold out Chicago crowd. Whether it was sending his band mates into the crowd to stoke the dance party during the jam-happy “When I Come Back Around” or dropping the microphone and going for broke with a couple of pasty dude dance moves during “A Little Bit More,” Lidell’s ability to go above and beyond the call of ‘entertainer’ made it obvious that his huge crossover appeal in Britain is wholly warranted. It was this uncommon intersection of massive talent with an uncanny sense of performance timing and more than a bit of dumb luck that kept the Abbey crowd matching Lidell’s sweat output all night, and who can blame them?

Critical accolades for recent LP Jim rightly laud his exquisite ear for R & B melody and knack for interjecting infectious 20^th-century pop tricks like scat and doo-wop into London-worthy club beats and swaggering rock ‘n’ roll, but there are certain intangibles of genius that are only apparent in a live setting. Sure, it’s impressive to keep a packed house shimmying en masse from the intro music to the last notes of the encore, but it’s certainly not unique. Sticking a microphone in a my face for an impromptu lead “woo hoo!” during “Out Of My System,” just as I’m scribbling a note about his ‘sticking the mic in random audience members’ faces for an impromptu lead “woo hoo!” during “Out Of My System?’” That’s the kind of weird, auspicious stuff that only happens to legends in the making.

MP3: Jamie Lidell - Little Bit of Feel Good (Mondkopf remix)

Photo by Laura Gray

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MP3: Sloan- I’m Not A Kid Anymore from Parallel Play (June 10th, Yep Roc)
The seasoned power popsters from Canada make new declarations with their latest effort. Relevant, polished and as sweet as they come.

MP3: The Stills- Rooibos/Palm Wine Drinkard from Oceans Will Rise (August 19th, Arts & Crafts)
A little more Logic but still lacking Feathers, the third offering from The Stills is on the way. While Logic Will Break Your Heart earned a certain instant classic status, 2006’s Without Feathers, well, ruffled some feathers. Oceans Will Rise seems to pull elements from each, with this grandiose track fading into a familiar melody at the end… and Tim Fletcher is back on main vocal duties.

MP3: mr. Gnome- Pirates from Deliver This Creature (Out now, El Marko)
Loud, driving rock number from a not so ordinary duo. This guy and girl get in your face with raw, emotional sonic force.

MP3: The Gang- Sea So from Zero Hits (Out now, Absolutely Kosher)
Throw out the EQ. The Gang sound more like a legion. Big drums, big guitars and an anthemic, rockin’ chorus.

MP3: My Education- Arch from Bad Vibrations (June 10th, Strange Attractors Audio House)
Cinematic and introspective composition from these Texas instrumentalists. More hopeful than say Dirty Three, but just as moody. For fans of The Album Leaf.

And now for this week’s Smorgasbord Sundae Wafer…
MP3/Stream: The Dirty Lawfords- Blame Everyone from a forthcoming LP (TBA, Glorious Noise)
Folksy, Americana-ish rock tunes from our hometown. 12 string guitars, a little Hammond organ thrown in. The band has had a couple of newish songs on their MySpace for a few months now. Download ‘em while you can. The Dirty Lawfords will be performing at Beat Kitchen next Wednesday.

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Now, the term ‘grunge’ has always inspired a shudder of self-consciousness in me…primarily because when you’re a fourteen-year-old eldest child trying to find culture in the void of early-90s Midwestern suburbia, you jump at the first “counter-culture”-ish offering you see. For many like me, it was the commercialized version of the heavy, chugging rock dirge that had been slowly seeping out of the Northwest since the mid-1980s. Nirvana’s Nevermind may have been coated in an impenetrable shellac of radio-friendly shimmer, but many of the bands who made that record’s explosion possible continued to toil just under the surface veneer of the grunge phenomenon.

Along with Monetsano, WA’s Melvins, it’s arguable that one of the most important voices of the early years of the movement belonged to Seattle foursome Mudhoney and unstoppable frontman Mark Arm. It’s not a stretch to say that most insiders in and around Seattle in the late 1980s felt that Mudhoney’s leaden pop scuzz would be the torchbearer of the Northwestern rock scene to the rest of the world, rather than the looser and more metal-leaning Nirvana. “Touch Me I’m Sick,” the first single from 1988’s iconic Sub Pop release Superfuzz Bigmuff, still crackles with raw, grimey fire and an engulfing, melodic roar. Against the backdrop of the neutered, blip-blop electro-programming that passes for “independent rock” today, the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of Superfuzz sounds even more galvanizing and freshly ferocious than it did two decades ago.

I didn’t realize how long it had been since I’d attended a bona fide rocknroll show until I wandered down to Reggie’s last week for Mudhoney’s set. I’m in the middle of reading Everett True’s tell-all grunge memoir, so the timing was appropriate for me to see this show. The full pussyocity of most of the bands I go see these days was thoroughly exposed by Mark Arm, Steve Turner, Dan Peters, and the guy who replaced Matt Lukin (and looked like he’d been plucked from a gig in a Jimmy Buffet cover band). Arm strutted around the stage like it was 1990, bringing all of Iggy Pop’s swagger and intensity to the band’s raw-but-calculated assault. Classics like “Touch Me” and “Suck You Dry” had a real-life mosh pit swirling in front of the stage, feeding off the ball of energy that doesn’t seem to have dissipated over the past two decades. Even the recently-released The Lucky Ones brims with the same buzzing, melodic teeth that made the Northwest’s signature sound so revolutionary.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so self-conscious after all.

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Last week was a doozy for me - two Langhorne Slim hoedowns and an explosive, ear-bleeding Mudhoney set. I didn’t even make it to Do Division because I was so concerted-out. Anyway, no rest for the weary this week as Jamie Lidell brings his absolutely INSANE live show to the Abbey, Nels Cline shows the utterly gut-wrenching guitar genius he’s capable of when not under Jeff Tweedy’s thumb, The National will continue to outshine tourmates Modest Mouse and REM at the United Center, and throwback rockers The M’s release a new record on Sunday at Schubas.

MONDAY, JUNE 2

Kooks w/ Morning Benders @ The Vic

Islands @ Logan Square Auditorium

TUESDAY, JUNE 3

Nels Cline Singers @ Martyr’s

Love Like Fire w/ Notes & Scratches @ Schubas

Death Cab For Cutie w/ Rogue Wave @ Pritzker Pavilion

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4

Jamie Lidell @ The Abbey Pub

Grand Archives @ Empty Bottle

THURSDAY, JUNE 5

Sea Wolf w/ The Jealous Girlfriends @ Schubas

Old 97s @ Metro

FRIDAY, JUNE 6

Wolf Eyes w/ Bloodyminded @ Empty Bottle

REM w/ Modest Mouse and The National @ United Center

SATURDAY, JUNE 7

Centro-Matic w/ The M’s @ Schubas (also Sunday, The M’s headlining)

Smoking Popes w/ Mannequin Men @ Metro

SUNDAY, JUNE 8

Mark Kozelek @ Old Town School

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We’re on a tornado watch in the upper Midwest this morning, complete with black skies and spitty rain, so there’s nary a better time to post an infectious spot of piano pop like Jukebox The Ghost’s “Good Day.” From the looks of their recent tourmates (Nightmare of You, Via Audio),they walk the fine line between indiehood and high school mixtapes…maybe I’m fourteen, but it works for me. Snarky lyrics and more-complex-than-The O.C.-soundtrack arrangements haul this trio back from the mall pop abyss, landing them squarely between Ben Folds and 90’s college nerd rock.

Catch them somewhere out there:

6/3 – New York, NY – Blender Theater
6/5 – Mt. Pleasant, SC – Village Tavern
6/6 – Athens, GA – Tasty World
6/7 – Tampa, FL – New World Brewery
6/8 – West Palm Beach, FL – Dada **
6/9 – Orlando, FL – Backbooth **
6/10 – Melbourne, FL – Melbourne Jaycees
6/12 – Houston, TX – Rocbar
6/13 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk **
6/14 – Dallas, TX – House On Swiss **
6/15 – Springfield, MO – Randy Bacon Gallery (w/ SSLYBY)
6/16 – Cape Girardeau, MO – Port Cape
6/18 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland
6/19 – Rochester, NY – Bug Jar
6/20 – Brooklyn, NY – Union Hall
6/21 – Westport, CT – Toquet Hall Teen Center
7/12 – State College, PA – Central PA Festival Of Arts (Allen Street Stage)

MP3: Jukebox The Ghost - Good Day

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