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The nip in the air only reaffirms the fact that summer festival season is behind us, and for that I think we can thankful: no more porta-potties, shitty sound, traipsing through mud, and idiots wearing bandana headbands. Yes, amateur season is over, and hard-core music fans can hear live music the way it was meant to experienced—indoors! When students head back to school, bands hit the road in earnest, and this week’s offerings make that plain. Tonight is a friggin’ Monday but there loads of primo shows happening all over town: Odd Future-related hardcore cretins Trash Talk are set to rip up Township, veteran indie-rock stars Arctic Monkeys are back after a lengthy break with a show at the Riviera, and Chicago’s own art-pop faves Allá resurface with a low-key show at the Whistler. Speaking of missing in action, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are also back, playing a show at Lincoln Hall on Tuesday, while the same night over at the Empty Bottle veteran Australian caveman punks Cosmic Psychos return from the dead. On Wednesday progressive bluegrass band Donna the Buffalo turn up at City Winery, while recent Chicago expat Caroline Davis returns to Chicago to lead her superb quartet at Constellation. You can read about four more early week shows from this week’s Soundboard after the jump.
Tue 9/24: No Joy at SchubasFor those who embrace the perverse joy created by buzzing, ringing ears, this combo is for you. As I write this week, “On its second album, Wait to Pleasure, Montreal band No Joy heats up its bludgeoning attack, sharpens its melodic instincts, and gets subtler, all at the same time. The combo’s indebtedness to My Bloody Valentine and Lush hasn’t diminished much, but they play with their models in a satisfyingly original way.”
