Welcome back, Surfers! Summer is getting into full swing, and after our trying headquarters move and a weekend full of personal celebrations, we took it a bit easy this week and could only catch Impulsive Hearts at Schubas on Tuesday with Austin, TX indie rockers The Canvas People and locals Young Man In A Hurry, but this is likely the last relaxing week we’ll get as fest season kicks into full gear this weekend with Ribfest! (Check out our Summer Fest Guide for the full lineup!) With tons of new local music to release this week, there is plenty to dive into. New records from  Acquaintances, Busy Bodies, Serengeti, Pelican, and many more! Click on that playlist and get on in there, Surfers! See you on the flipside, covered in BBQ sauce and stark-raving meat-mad after consuming five too many rib samplers!

Keep Seeing Live Music!

2019 festival guide

⬐ SHOWS ⬎

Impulsive Hearts / 📷 : KPL

Going into a show blind is sometimes the best way to approach seeing music. Sure, we have a slight history with Impulsive Hearts, having interviewed them a few months back for their Resilience Chicago benefit EP, but we’d never seen them live. Austin quartet The Canvas People hadn’t entered the CCS radar yet, while locals Young Man In A Hurry are so new they don’t have any recorded material out yet.  We arrived at Schubas with little knowledge of what to expect and were received with open arms by all three acts, who threw their hearts out to the meager Tuesday night crowd.

Chicago musician Matt Baron hung up his guitar years ago, started teaching, became a family man, started a children’s music band (Future Hits), and thought his rock career was done... It turns out, it wasn’t done with him. Now he has a whole new batch of songs and a record on the way with a list of collaborators that is as impressive as it is extensive (including his doctor, Meyer Horn, on drums), all laid out in a super slick newsletter provided as free merch). We won’t go into the details, but the first record from Young Man In A Hurry, titled Jarvis, will be out later this year, and if it’s anything like the textured indie rock bliss on stage in this opening set, it’s sure to make an impression. With a trio of accomplished musicians backing him, Baron had us dangling on every note, and the layered effect-laden jams that fed into and out of most of the tunes were a welcome respite from the straightforward confessional indie rock that is the latest wave. It’s rare to find an artist making a new impression while nearing middle age, but Baron and his band are well on their way to getting some real traction. Just ask all the friends who came out in support! Young Man In A Hurry could be one of Chicago’s next big things. Be on the lookout for their next show!  

Middling is a tough gig, but The Canvas People were up to the challenge. Bringing crisp three-part harmonies, and some playful minor chord guitar jangles, the quartet from Austin warmed up the crowd with a few choice tunes before letting it rip to close out their set. For a bunch of guys who look like they should be playing metal, The Canvas People have a soft touch, and it showed with new singles “Starlit” and “Moonlight Dancing.” Their atmospheric indie rock in the vein of Fleet Foxes and Local Natives, is a playground for lead guitarist Wes Maxwell, who passionately jammed out; while Luke Williams held down the low end with ease and Pat Epley kept the rhythm alive. Kyle Taylor is the glue that holds it all together, as his croon blended effortlessly with the overlapping guitars. Make sure to check out new record Garden Party, set to drop later this summer.

Danielle Sines has been performing as Impulsive Hearts for several years now, and with a brand new band behind her, she rocked it out on the sleepy Tuesday night. With a set full of new tunes and a few old favorites, like fuzzy singalong, “Zombie,” they tore through a too-short set for a criminally low turnout for a free show. Having gathered a new group full of talented female musicians, Sines and company have been working on a new record and were sharing some of the songs for the first time. Dreamy in their highs, yet grounded in real life lyrically, Sines’ tunes reflect the complex emotions of life in the city. With powerful vocal chops, she grabs hold of you and shakes the feelings out, especially on killer single, “Fool.”  For being together a rather short time (they still haven’t updated the lineup on social media), the band was well rehearsed and tight, with overlapping layers of sound from the two guitar, sax, and synth combo. We can’t wait to hear more from this version of Impulsive Hearts and are eagerly awaiting the new record.

-KPL

NEWS & NOTES

• Mamby On The Beach was announced this week and there are plenty of artists to be excited about with the likes of Flying Lotus, Phantogram, Bob Moses, Santigold, Washed Out (DJ Set), and Empress Of to name a few hitting the annual beach fest. With a few more artists to be announced, the two day event is returning to Montrose Beachm after several years away. (UPDATE: Or Will It Be On The Beach?) It’s sure to be a party on August 23rd and 24th!

• For more Chicago music news, check out our friends at Midwest Action and ANCHR Magazine.

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Lots of SOLD OUT shows this week that are not included here

+ Local
^ All Ages

THURSDAY June 13th
+ Sidewalk Chalk / DJ Tess @ Emporium Arcade - Wicker Park  8PM $15

+ Speakeasy Session w/ Carlise @ Freehand Chicago  7PM FREE RSVP

+ Bryan Away / Max Subar @ The Hideout  9PM $7

^ Mt. Joy / Rayland Baxter @  Millennium Park  6:30PM FREE

Dead Meadow / Dommengang / Tombstone Eyes @ Empty Bottle  8:30PM doors $15

JR JR / Michigander @ Lincoln Hall  8PM $20

The Moth & The Flame @ Subterranean  7:30PM $15

Black Magic Flower Power / Stone Mecca / Dead Vinyl / St. Marlboro @ Reggies  7PM $10

Maceo Parker @ SPACE  7PM $25 - $65  9:30PM  $45

FRIDAY June 14th
Ribfest  - 5PM  $10 donation $20 per family

Taste of Randolph - 5PM  $10 donation   

+ Bitchin Bajas / Axis: Sova / Brokeback / Musical Tracing Ensemble @ Co-Prosperity Sphere  7:30PM doors $10

+ Turnspit (Farewell Show) / The Blind Staggers / Blood People / Steveo & the Crippling Addictions / Still Alive @ Beat Kitchen 8PM  $10  

+ Mungion @ Lincoln Hall  11PM $15

^ Knuckle Puck / Citizen / HUNNY / Oso Oso @ Metro  6:30PM $25

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram @ Schubas  11PM $20

Coheed and Cambria & Mastodon / Everytime I Die @ Northerly Island  6:30PM $35 and up.

SATURDAY June 15th
Ribfest  - 12PM  $10 donation $20 per family

Taste of Randolph - 12PM  $10 donation

+ Ovef Ow / The Just Luckies / Wet Tropics / Das Dotz @ Burlington  8PM Cover

+ Stumpwater @ Hey Nonny  8:30PM $15 - $30

SOAK. / Fenne Lily @ Schubas  9PM $14  

Charly Bliss / Emily Reo @ Lincoln Hall  9PM $16

MONO / Emma Ruth Rundle / Dim @ Bohemian National Cemetery  6PM $25

Circles Around The Sun @ Concord  10:30PM $18

The Breeders / Palehound / Dinno Niño @ House of Vans  7PM doors FREE RSVP

The Scotch Bonnets / Bumsy and the Moochers / DJ Chuck Wren @ Reggies  9PM $10

Dumpstaphunk / Magnolia Boulevard @ Metro  11PM $25

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit / Father John Misty / Jade Bird @ Northerly Island  7PM $35 and up.

Pink Talking Fish @ The Vic  11:30PM $20

SUNDAY June 16th
Ribfest - 12PM  $10 donation $20 per family

Taste of Randolph  - 12 PM  $10 donation

+ Thoom / Ariel Zetina / Itsi @ Empty Bottle  8:30PM doors $8

MC Chris @ Beat Kitchen  8PM $16

Vampire Weekend / Chicano Batman / Richard Pictures @ Northerly Island  6:30PM$26.50 and up.

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MONDAY June 17th
Wilder Maker / Health&Beauty / Tobacco City @ Empty Bottle  8:30PM doors FREE

^ Cory Henry and The Funk Apostles / Liniker E OS  Caramelows @ Millennium Park  6:30PM FREE

Sleepwalkers / Space Gators @ Schubas  9PM $10

MINIVAN / Richard Pictures / BBSitters Club @ Sleeping Village  9PM $10

TUESDAY June 18th
David Nance / Long Hots / Axis : Sova @ The Hideout  9:30PM $10

Ivy Dye / The Edwards / Young Strangers @ Empty Bottle  8:30PM doors $8

Ginger Root / Wyatt Waddell @ Schubas  9PM $12

The Ataris / Parker / Evil Engine @ Bottom Lounge  8PM $15

Yeasayer / Oh, Rose @ Metro  9PM $24

WEDNESDAY June 19th
Sun Voyager / Dead Feathers / Diagonal @ Livewire Lounge  8PM Cover

+ The Lawrence Peters Outfit @ The California Clipper  9:30PM FREE

+ Rectal Hygienics / Stimulant / Mellow Harsher / Bottomed @ Sleeping Village  9:30PM $5

Karen Meat / Izzy True / Peach Fuzz @ The Hideout  9:30PM $8

Julien Baker / Wye Oak / MACSEAL @ House of Vans  7PM doors FREE RSVP

Faye Webster / Jenny O / Ester (duo set) @ Schubas  8PM $12

Boulevards / Shi la Rosa / Ricky Liontones@ Empty Bottle  8:30PM doors $10

Bad Books / Brother Bird @ Metro   8:30PM $23.50

See you at the show Chicago!