Philip Montoro,Reader music editor
Fanfare Ciocarlia at Summerdance The Roma know how to fucking party. The members of this indefatigable Romanian brass band warmed up their mouthpieces preshow with cigarettes in their free hands and ended their thrillingly rambunctious set down on the dance floor, playing shoulder-to-shoulder with the sweaty, delirious crowd. So much dancing! And from those of us who didn’t know the traditional steps, so much lunatic jumping around!
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Girl Group Chicago I finally caught this gargantuan girl-group cover band at the Hideout Block Party, and now I’m sorry about every time I didn’t see them over the past year and a half. (Not least because I used to play in the Afflictions with tenor saxophonist Kelly Argyle.) They strike the perfect balance between winking at the dated material and having a huge, contagious amount of fun with it. My favorite parts: Sara Heymann’s bad-girl sass, Stephanie Rohr’s startling contralto on “You Don’t Own Me,” and Andrea “Whack Minx” Jablonski‘s awesomely out-of-place metal-warrior bass stance. Oh and they did the Shangri-Las’ “Great Big Kiss.” I’m in love.
Elle Quintana, talent buyer at Reggie’s
The Babys, “Shounen Knife” I can’t remember how I stumbled across the Babys. I think it was during a whiskey-fueled Internet binge in 2005. I saw the “Shounen Knife” video and fell in love. This three-piece from Japan plays an odd and thoroughly enjoyable mix of guitar-heavy Brit-rock and pop. Their music isn’t easy to find, but I hope you do. They also soundtracked the animated version of the manga series Paradise Kiss.
Fifth on the Floor, Ashes & Angels (eOne Music) Fifth on the Floor are the realest thing you’re going to get in country rock. If you’re into classic Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Feat, and the like, you need to get hip to these dudes. It defies all logic that they’re not a household name. They’re an honest, whiskey-drinking, weed-smoking kind of band, playing the kind of tunes you jam shooting pool or driving some back road. There’s no shitty dude in a sleeveless denim shirt with sparkly jeans. They’re all ugly sons of bitches who play from the heart. Also, no keytars or dubstep remixes.
