TGIF Hodge Podge – The Drones @ Schubas 9/15 + Real Ones + Ryan Adams

I’m going to start off the day by jumping right into a quick review of The Drones show at Schubas Tavern that I mentioned last week in this space. In the interest of full disclosure, I went to the bar this past Tuesday woefully unprepared. Though I was fully aware that The Drones have been around for nearly a decade and have been well received both in their home country of Australia and here stateside, my knowledge of their back catalog was (and still is) shamefully inadequate. As such, I walked into the show this week having no idea what to expect but with high expectations nonetheless.

To be honest, Schubas is not one of my favorite places in the city to see a show. For starters the location is less than ideal for someone coming from the Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village area, and though the room is cozy enough it lacks the dive-like appeal that my favorite venues are known for. Not to say that I haven’t seen mu share of great shows there, but they could have easily taken place elsewhere and likely been even better. Years ago the space seemed to be far more indie-friendly, but as the neighborhood has gentrified into Lincoln Park north, the bookings have trended far more toward the mainstream. Again, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I feel as though it certainly had an effect on the attendance on Tuesday. Despite being a major metropolis, getting people in Chicago to go out on a Tuesday night is often like pulling teeth: unless something really big is going down you are going to have a hard time packing the room. And therein lies the biggest downfall of Schubas on this particular evening. The band on the stage was so immensely talented that it was almost painful for me to watch them pour their souls out on the stage for a semi-lifeless crowd of maybe thirty people. Selfishly I was fine with catching an incredible band in a non-crowded and intimate environment, but altruistically they deserved much better.

The show itself was an hour-long onslaught of some of the best shoegaze-garage music that I have had the opportunity to witness up close and personal. The entire band oozed with talent and their chops were on full display throughout the evening. Singer and guitarist Gareth Liddiard put on a mesmerizing performance, belting out infectious hooks in his thick Australian accent while shredding his fingers on against his own guitar strings. No exaggeration, the white pick guard on his Fender Jazzmaster was stained with his blood by the time the band was into their third song. Beyond his intense vocals, Liddiard was otherwise quiet throughout the set, seemingly comfortable to defer all witty banter to guitarist Dan Luscombe, who had no trouble keeping the crowd entertained. Typically it is hard to maintain interest in a show when you are unfamiliar with the majority of the songs, but The Drones had me sucked in entirely from the opening note, an incredible testament to what this band is able to do on stage. Though the set was short and there was no encore, I left more than please with the performance that I took in. Unfortunately I can’t comment on the setlist given my relative unfamiliarity and the fact that the band did not leave one on the stage for me to snag, but I can tell you this: if you have a chance to see these guys play, do it, and if you don’t, at least buy their records. You won’t regret it.

The Drones – Nail It Down (Live)

Buy The Drones @ Insound!

Next up is a brand new track that I got just a few days ago and have been spinning habitually ever since. As you might imagine, I get a ton of songs in my inbox on any given day, and though I try to listen to everything eventually, sometimes one of them catches my eye right away and I just need to hear it immediately. This was the case when I came upon Real Ones on Wednesday afternoon. Not only did it come from one of my favorite PR folks to work with, but the notes that accompanied it compared the band to both The Flaming Lips and Wilco. I’m aware that most of the time you can take those types of comparisons with a grain of salt, but I have a habit of being instantly intrigued by any band that welcomes a comparison to The Lips. The vast majority of the time I end up thoroughly disappointed, but Real Ones offered me a very pleasant surprise. I wouldn’t that they are really all that similar, but I can see the similarities in a RIYL sort of way. In any event, this is clearly a band that can stand on its own merits. When you venture into the realm of melodic acid folk-pop, there typically isn’t a lot of room for error, and these guys have absolutely nailed it. “Every Dog Has His Day” is criminally addictive and will be included on the Norwegian quintet’s US debut All for the Neighbourhood, which is dropping next week.

Real Ones – Every Dog Has His Day

Buy Real Ones @ Insound!

Ryan Adams has always been an artist that I have fallen in and out of love with throughout the years. I loved everything he did in Whiskeytown and Heartbreaker will always be on my list of albums I would want if I were stranded on a desert island. Beyond that, with the exception of Gold, which was a big part of my life for a few years, the rest of his records sort of come and go on a whim. While I like everything, I tend to go through phases and move on. As a lyrics person, I feel that this is easy to do with Ryan’s records given their relatability and often very personal content. The nice thing about that is that every now and then, when a song catches me or comes up in a shuffle, I can go back and rediscover pieces of his catalog that I had previously neglected or under-appreciated. This has been the case for me over the last week or so with Demolition. I used to like “Starting to Hurt” a ton, but never gave a whole lot of thought to the rest of the record beyond the initial infatuation the first week that I had it. Fast forward to now, after falling in love with the track “Cry on Demand,” and Demolition is my current favorite Ryan record. While I know that may change by morning (though I doubt it; I’m going to give it at least a few months at this point), it’s yet another gem that I can now stow away in my list of albums that I can play from start to finish and love every second of.

Ryan Adams – Cry On Demand

Buy Ryan Adams @ Insound!