Video: Sidi Touré, Ni See Say Ga Done

Sidi Toure - Ni See Say Ga Done from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

WEDNESDAY 2/29/12
Polica, Marijuana Death Squads, Total Fucking Blood @ Lincoln Hall 2424 N. Lincoln Ave.

TFB is OFR, OTT, TFR and FGD!!!

What's It All About, Royal Pines?

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Each week, Reglar Wiglar Magazine asks a band, artist or musician: What’s it all about? What's the point and why go on? This week we ask Chicago's regal evergreens, Royal Pines...

What’s it all about?

This is our first show at The Empty Bottle in a few years and first weekend show there. We play in the middle after Ornery Little Darlings and before The Greenhornes.

What’s the point?

I've been playing drums in bands since I was a teenager, but Royal Pines is the first band I play guitar, write and sing all the songs. We've been together for over 6 years and we play what I like to call Gothic Garage Rock or Heavy Wood (not metal). It's a blend of heavy garage, country and pyschedelic with socially satirical, black comedy, absurdist lyrics. It started out with more folky songs, but we've gotten heavier and darker. We might get more mellow again if we stick around long enough.

I've had a deep obsession for rock 'n' roll since I was very young and when I wonder what the point is (which I often do) it just won't let me quit. It's still an obsession; a fun one. We also have a new guitar player, Fred Brown, who has injected fresh enthusiasm into it so it feels new again. I really love performing even if it's just for a handfull of people, which it often is. My main obsession is for writing songs and I want people to hear them and hopefully enjoy them. Along with Fred Brown, bassist Brendan O'Mara and drummer Joe Gerdeman really make the songs hum.

Why go on?

We've released two full-length records with almost enough material for a third. We're still plugging the Come Forth album which has been out for over a year, but we plan on going back to the studio in the spring or summer. Who knows how long it will take to get something out though. I would love to have someone else put it out for us, but we'll do it ourselves again if we have to. I'm hoping for 2013. 

SATURDAY, 3/3/12
The Greenhornes, Royal Pines, Ornery Little Darlings @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave

Music Review: The Band in Heaven

THE BAND IN HEAVEN
Sleazy Dreams EP 7”(Hozac)

If this is indeed the band in heaven, they’re missing Jimi Hendrix on guitar, John Entwhistle on bass, Ray Charles on piano and Rick Allen’s left arm on drums. (That was fucked up, I apologize). This band, Band in Heaven, is a Florida duo who create what some pundits are calling "nightmare pop." That tag is apt, although nightmare is a bit harsh—more like rolling dream music for a wired, but tired, washed-out brain that is susceptible to soaking up the distortion and fuzz of the subconscious.

The Band in Heaven's four song Hozac seven inch gallops off into the dreamscape with the driving, noisy "Sleazy Dreams". “If You Only Knew” continues the hypnotic barrage and “Summer Bummer” would make a bummer of any summer. The EP's closer, “Sludgy Dreams,” takes “Sleazy Dreams” and sludges down the tempo considerably. Like another link in The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Band in Heaven keep it simple, distorted and loud—Jayne Wayne [The Band in Heaven]

Read more reviews!

Video: The Band in Heaven, Sludgy Dreams

the band in Heaven - Sludgy Dreams from the band in Heaven on Vimeo.

Video: The Band in Heaven, Sleazy Dreams

The Band In Heaven - "Sleazy Dreams" from the band in Heaven on Vimeo.

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

TUESDAY, 2/28/12
Pearl and the Beard, Jon Drake and the Shakes @ S.P.A.C.E., 1245 W Chicago, Evanston

Yeah, Muggsy don't usually go for this kinda folky stuff, but I'm a sucker for a good Beard. Wait, which one's the beard?

Music Review: Dinero

DINERO
Sheep (no label)
What would you get if you took a half pound of Meat Puppets and a cup of ZZ Top, mixed it together in a stainless steel bowl, threw in a dash of the politics of Boon and Watt, wring into it the blue collar of CCR and add a pinch of lightenin' quick, finger pickin’ blues? Well, you’d have made yourself a big ol' batch of delicious Dinero. This Colorado trio's head honcho, Mike Wing, has an ax to grind, fortunately for us that ax is stringed. "Concealed Weapons and Open Containers," "The Coyote Song," and "Some People Push Back" tap into a lot of the anger that exists in this country regardless of whether your state is red or blue. It's not just the Tea Party who's angry, some of the beer and whisky drinkers are pretty pissed too—Otis E. Lee [Dinero]

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

MONDAY, 2/27/12
Music of the Baroque Orchestra @ Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph

Yeah, boyeeeeee!!! Nicholas Kraemer's gonna conduct the shit outa' the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 tonight!

 B-flat Major, son!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

SATURDAY, 2/25/12
Queers, Ataris @ Reggies Rock Club, 2109 S. State St.

Lemme tell yah a story about a young kid—we'll call him Suggsy—well, a few years ago this Suggsy kid was all excited to be takin' a trip to New York City and visitin' the old C.B.G.B.s rock club. You see, to young Suggsy this place had a lotta history to it, what with Television and The Ramones gettin' their supposed start there—forget that whole meathead 80s hardcore/thrash scene though (that's how Suggsy felt). So anyways, Suggsy finally gets to enter the hallowed ground of this joint and guess who's playin' on the stage at that precise moment? The Queers. Let's just say this bummed young Suggsy out and he never really got over it even though the toilets were as disgusting as he ever could have hoped. The end.

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

FRIDAY, 2/24/12
Korn @ Congress Theater, 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Apparently, Korn is still together.

Korn play their instruments all weird.

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

THURSDAY, 2/23/12

Innkeepers, Magic Gloves, The Hildegard Knef @ The Burlington, 3425 W Fullerton Ave.

Who's minding the inn? These guys that's who.

Interview: Inside Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Caseen Gaines

AN INTERVIEW WITH

INSIDE PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE AUTHOR CASEEN GAINES

Revered by kids of all ages, Pee-wee’s Playhouse was a creative powerhouse of talent. Artists, designers, writers and actors all collaborated to create a variety program that would have a lasting impact on children's television in the eighties and beyond.

Last year was the 25th Anniversary of the show's end run in 1986 and Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Untold, Unauthorized, and Unpredictable Story of a Pop Phenomenon, is the first comprehensive look into the behind-the-scenes workings of that landmark show. The books's author will be at Quimby’s Bookstore (1854 W. North Avenue) on Friday, February 24th to discuss the book, but we got a chance to talk to Caseen Gaines (also a high school English teacher) during his lunch break.

How many cities are you going to be visiting on this book tour?

I went to a number of locations. Quimby’s is currently the last stop that I have scheduled, but I’ve been to Manhattan, I’ve been to Brooklyn, I’ve been to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I’ve been to Cleveland and Chicago is the next stop.

The book came out in November of last year. How’s it doing, are you getting a good response from fans?

The response from fans has been phenomenal. It’s really great to get good reviews from publications, and we’ve gotten a number of those from Publishers Weekly, from Booklist, from The Village Voice, from The Advocate, however, it’s really important for me that Pee-wee Herman fans appreciate the book, and the feedback has been great. Also the feedback from people who have worked on the show—even a lot of the actors have reached out to me and said that they read the book and really thought it was accurate and really appreciated it.

How much access did you have to some of these people, the actors and the artists?

I reached out to about two hundred people. A number of people were really excited and enthusiastic about participating—a lot of animators and writers and directors on the show. Of course, there were some people who were disinterested. Paul Reubens did not participate in the book. He has a memoir that he is hoping to write in the future, so with Paul Reubens not being involved there were also a number of people that I did not have access to as well. But it was really great because it forced me to do some research, and I spent a lot of time researching the book in addition to interviewing people. Everyone is well accounted for. Paul Reubens is well-accounted for as well as the people who wouldn’t actually speak to me. If you read through the book you probably can’t even tell who spoke to me and who didn’t.

Was this a project you went to somebody with or were they looking for someone to write it and you thought you would be up for the challenge?

It was a project that I came up with. When Paul Reubens announced that he was coming back as Pee-wee Herman, I took to the Internet and was just kind of poking around for information and saw there was no central location for information about Pee-wee’s Playhouse—there’s a Wikipedia page, but there isn’t a book, there isn’t a documentary—the biggest, most important children's show of the last couple decades and I was just amazed there was no forum for this. So it was a charge that I took up myself and I’m glad that I was able to interest someone in it so quickly and so many people signed on to participate with the book.

Anything stand out as something you were surprised or shocked to learn?

I think I was surprised at the number of other individuals that left their mark on that show. When you think about Pee-wee Herman you think about Paul Reubens, or if you’re really in the know, you think about a couple of other names as well—Gary Panter maybe, Laurence Fishburne,—but there’s so many people that were really pushing the envelope in terms of animation and comedy at the time. A gentleman named John Paragon, who played Jambi the Genie, was also a co-writer and co-director for the majority of the series. He was really a driving force and his style of comedy runs throughout that series. So I was surprised at the other people whose creativity contributed to the final product.

Any other projects that you have in the works?

I’m still promoting this one and this one is what is consuming my life at the moment (laughs), but there is a another project in the works that I can’t exactly talk about right now. There is another book that I’m working on, based on a movie this time, that is a behind-the-scenes look at another big, classic, pop phenomenon from the nineteen eighties, so stay tuned.

We will. Thanks, Caseen Gaines! 

Ask Caseen about Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse on February 24, 7pm @ Quimby's, 1854 W. North Ave., Chicago

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Picks 3 Days Worth!!!

MUGGSY McMURPHY'S ROCK PICKS

Gotta big court date this week. Yeah, Muggsy caught a case. Can't talk too much about it right now, but don't worry, I'll beat it. Anyways, I didn't have a lot of time to do my picks. My apologies.

MONDAY, 1/20/12

Royal Baths, The People's Temple, Absolutely Not @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.

You'll be drinkin' the Kool-Aid alright.

TUESDAY, 1/21/12

Stolen Silver, Moritat, Dick Prall @ Schuba's, 3159 N. Southport Ave.

Stolen Silver are playing at Schuba's.

WEDNESDAY, 2/22/12

Slow Club, Air Waves, The Love of Everything @ Empty Bottle 1035 N. Western Ave.

Bobby Burg, literally, loves everything.

What's It All About, Innkeepers?

Each week, Reglar Wiglar Magazine asks a band, artist or musician: What’s it all about? What's the point and why go on? This week we ask Chicago's hospitable hostelry proprietors, INNKEEPERS:

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Having a good time ALL the time, letting your freak flag fly, and laying it down with our pals Magic Gloves and The Hildegard Knef, 2/23 at the Burlington. And thinking like a tree.

WHAT'S THE POINT?

To put the means of production into the hands of the proletariat. To that end we are finishing up an EP that will be available in some form very soon.

WHY GO ON?

Because if you don't, the other side wins, like in tennis. Rock is a lot like tennis.

THURSDAY, 2/23/12
Innkeepers, Magic Gloves, The Hildegard Knef @ The Burlington, The Burlington, 3425 W Fullerton Ave.

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

SUNDAY, 2/19/12
Guns N' Roses @ House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St.

This show is sold out. Not surprising, tickets were only a hundred and twenty-five bucks. Let me say that again, tickets were only a hundred and twenty-five bucks. Axle asked you to pay a hundred and twenty-five bucks to see him perform at the House of Blues, and you fell for it!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

SATURDAY, 2/18/12
The Jealous Sound, Farewell Continental, Into it. Over it. @ Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave.

Was over it, but then was into it. I kinda flipped it, you see.

Comics Review: Project 0

PROJECT 0
Phase 1, Part 1
John & Charles Agbaje (Central City Tower)
Brothers, John and Charles Agbaje have been creating comics and stories together since they were kids. The pair have created Central City Tower as a collective of sorts. The main focus now is the on-going graphic novel, Project 0. In this thirty-two page, black and white book, (also available for download) the Agbaje brothers begin their story in an indeterminate time and place, presumably Central City. Part One introduces us to three friends, Aatu, Bea and Owen who are searching scrap yards for the parts necessary to complete the rocket they are building. This rocket will eventually take them away from wherever they are and to wherever Owen is from. Owen is an "Outsider" who fell from the sky and who possess powers that make him an outcast from the community where Aatu and Bea live. Drawn in a Manga style that allows for some fast moving action scenes, Project O has set the stage for the ongoing development of stories and characters in conflict with their environment—Chris Auman

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Music Review: Rhyton

RHYTON
Self-titled (Thrill Jockey)

Rhyton is an improvisational musical outfit—a jam band of sorts—a Brooklyn trio of like minds who lay out songs, riffs and free-form progressions with little or no pre-planned structural consideration. Organic and experimental yet never quite aimless and not like listening to your stoner next-door-neighbors wank ‘til dawn, although the five tracks on their self-titled debut certainly owe a debt to late-night bull sessions where this or that might be passed around to facilitate some sort of process. One would think anyway. “Stone Colored” meanders to the twelve minute “Pontian Grave” which may or may not be about a genocide. "Teké" abandons even the minimal outline of a plan, going in for effects over notes. "Dale Odalíski" further devolves into the primordial murk which allows "Shank Raids" to march into the fray with a purpose that might otherwise not seem so valiant—Jubson Jones [Rhyton]

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

FRIDAY, 2/17/12
Withering Soul, Reign Inferno, Vicious Attack, Roman Ring @ Ultra Lounge, 2169 N Milwaukee Ave.

"So, are we doing the corpse paint or are we not doing the corpse paint? Let's decide before the photo shoot, guys."

Music Review: Wooden Shjips

WOODEN SHJIPS
Remixes 12" (Thrill Jockey)

Fans of the San Fran band, Wooden Shjips, as well as fans of vinyl and 12” remixes, will be happy with this new Thrill Jockey release—as will fans of stuff that's limited edition, as well as fans of droning, spacey stoner music. The Remixes EP features three songs utilitzing the mixing and production talents of Andrew Weatherall, Sonic Boom (Pete Kember of Spacemen 3) and Kandodo (aka Simon Price of The Heads). In Weatherall’s hands, the first track “Crossing” (from last year's West LP) slows down the pace of the origninal, strips out the guitar, ups the bass and adds some synth to the mix, thus creating a more electronic edge than previously present. Pete Kember, who helped master the West album, took it upon his ownself to cook up "Wiking Stew (aka Red Krayola-ing)" as a mashup of tunes from that record. For "Ursus Maritimus (Last Bear’s Lament)" The Shjip’s Ripley Johnson laid down the main structure for Kandodo, who added various instrumentation to create a droning, twelve minute collage that is haunting in its stark chain-gang clang—like breaking rocks, not in the hot sun, but under a black moon. You feel me?—Jubson Jones [Wooden Shjips]

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

THURSDAY, 2/16/12
English Dogs, Casualties, Toxic Holocaust, Havok @ Reggies Rock Club, 2109 S. State St.

Wakey? Wattie? Gizz? Pinch? What up, Dogs?

Zine Review: Xerography Debt #29

XEROGRAPHY DEBT #29

Davida Gypsy Breier, Editor (Leeking Ink)

The columns in XD #29 are a continuation of the “Revenge of Print” theme put forth in the previous issue. Publisher Davida Gypsy Breier contemplates the current state of zine and small press publishing, Dread Socket offers his take on what is and/or isn’t a zine and Inner Swine’s Jeff Somers writes another column about himself. Things seem to be getting a little Maximumrocknroll in zineland these days, which can be interesting and spark good debate right up to the point where it becomes a parody of itself. We’re not there yet, I don’t think. And then there are the reviews by the likes of zine movers & shakers, Joe Biel (Microcosm Publishing), Liz Mason (Caboose), and about a dozen other lovers of all things zine—Chris Auman

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Comic Review: Everything Dies #7

EVERYTHING DIES #7
Box Brown (microcosm)

According to the Eridu genesis story, four gods (An, Enlil, Enki, and Nintur) got together and whipped up our planet and populated it with people who would soon become raucous and not much reverent. This pissed off Enlil in particular, who convinced the other three gods that them people gotta go. Thusly there was flooding and the peeps were destroyed save for one King Ziasudra who was advised by Enki to build an ark and find two animals of every kind and yada, yada yada—you know the rest.

Comics artist, Box Brown, tackles religious myths in his Everything Dies series. Originally slated for at least six issues, #7 is the latest with this creation story and flood myth found in old Sumerian texts (you may recognize it from your bible where some of the names have been changed and the four gods have been scaled down to one prime mover). Funny, succinct, simply rendered, and without any sort of religion (pro or con) heavy-handedness that tends to polarize readers. It’s a comic for Enki's sake!—Chris Auman [everythingdiescomic.com]

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

WEDNESDAY, 2/15/12
Die Antwoord @ Metro, 3730 N. Clark St.

I love it. I hate it. I get it. I don't get it. It's really, really stupid. It's brilliant. I will be into Die Antwoord for the next two days. I will be into Die Antwoord for the next two weeks!

Zine Review: Railroad Semantics #1

RAILROAD SEMANTICS #1

Aaron Dactyl (Microcosm)

My exposure to zines dealing with the culture of train hopping is limited to... well, this zine right here. In Railroad Semantics, author Aaron Dactyl describes his short hops on freight lines in Washington State between "Eugene, Portland, Pocatello and Back" as the zine's subtitle states. In his depictions of these travels, Aaron writes as if he were talking to fellow hobos (my term, not his). He uses railroad terminology as if we, the readers, were also intimately familiar with the differences between a EEC and a DPU. This is less a detraction than the added weight of authenticity, and it makes the pictures he paints of the Pacific Northwest, and the isolation of solo train travel, no less appealing. Like the markings on rail cars that train hoppers leave for each other, Aaron is simply sending a message to later travelers, warning them what to look out for by relating what he's encountered in different yards—Chris Auman

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

TUESDAY, 1/14/12
Tyler Jon Tyler, Nones, The Runnies, @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.

Donald Rumsfeld said it best, "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known nones; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unnones; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unnones—the ones we don't know we don't know."

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

MONDAY, 1/13/12
Unicycle Loves You, Lightfoils, The Grooks @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.

First, I couldn't get Bicycle to notice I was alive, then I couldn't get Tricycle to quit stalking me. And now Unicycle loves me?!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

SUNDAY, 2/12/12
Rhymefest, Qwel & Maker, Longshot, Ang 13, Robust with Old Irving, Cojack, Number 2 & White Jesus @ Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave.


Rhyme Fest is rhyt. The Crotch hasn't seen this much hip hop since... ever.

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

SATURDAY, 2/11/12
The Darkness, Foxy Shazam @ Metro, 3730 N. Clark St.

Just when I completely forgot that anything like The Darkness ever existed, along come The Darkness.

Zine Review: Zinester's Guide to Portland

ZINESTER'S GUIDE TO PORTLAND
(Microcosm)

Never been to Portland—not Portland, Oregon, not Portland, Maine. I have watched five episodes of Portlandia, however. Does that count? Didn’t think so. If I ever do make it to the City of Roses (Portland, OR), I will surely be taking this guide with me. The Zinester’s Guide to Portland was put together by zinesters, but you certainly don’t need to be a zinester to use it. It’s written for the “low/no budget” type of traveler, which is a category I fall into. Museums, thrift stores, record and book shops, restaurants, bakeries, video stores, pizza joints, watering holes, coffee and tea shops, parks and bridges are all listed, laid out by geographic location and neighborhood and explained. It’s a Portlandicopia of useful information complete with maps and illustrations. It really makes me want to jump on the next Empire Builder out of Chicago for a slice of Portland's Sizzle Pie pizza—Chris Auman

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

FRIDAY, 2/10/12
Netherfriends, Secret Colours, Vamos @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.

Word to Secret Colours: We don't spell "colors" "colours" in this contry. Maybe they still like their u's in Canauda and Englaund, but not here.

Zine Review: Dwelling Portably #5

DWELLING PORTABLY COLLECTION #5
(Microcosm)
Dwelling Portably is a bit of a turducken of sorts: it’s a zine, stuffed within a zine, stuffed within a zine with reprints of other, similar publications reprinted within its pages. That makes for a jam-packed, endlessly informative guide for people who choose to live on the fringes of society. It also makes for some fascinating reading for city folks like myself who enjoy the escapism of thinking about this type of nomadic lifestyle. The text starts about an inch down from the top of the front cover and doesn’t stop until about an inch up from the bottom of the back cover. In between you’ll find foraging techniques, tips on gardening, shelter building, best natural remedies, best camping sites and all manner of information on how to live sustainably and completely off the grid—Chris Auman

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

THURSDAY, 2/9/12
Brokeback, Miracle Condition @ The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave.

Brokeback at the Hideout tonight. A reference to the 2005 Ang Lee film, Brokeback Mountain, would be cheap, immature, mean-spirited, not particularly funny and should be roundly condemned.

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

WEDNESDAY, 2/8/12
Doldrums, City States, Speck Mountain @ Schuba's, 3159 N. Southport Ave.

Escape to Speck Mountain!

I have died and gone to...

hardcore heaven!

Muggsy McMurphy's Rock Pick

TUESDAY, 1/7/12
Craig Finn, Mount Moriah @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.

While the boys hold steady, Finn drops a solo jam.

Read an old Reglar Wiglar Interview with Craig Finn!

What's It All About, Secret Colours?

Each week, Reglar Wiglar Magazine asks a band, artist or musician: What’s it all about? What's the point and why go on? This week, we ask Chicago's clandestinely vivid, SECRET COLOURS:

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Secret Colours is a six piece rock n roll band that aims to entertain people with music that is an artistic expression of our own lives. Our next show is on February 10th at the Empty Bottle.

WHAT'S THE POINT?

The point is to discover the relationship between us and and the world. Where is our place? We released an EP on January 1st that we recorded at Engine Studios with producer Brian Deck for our upcoming full length LP. The EP is available on our website and the LP should be out late Spring.  

WHY GO ON?

This is what we love to do. The one hour or so we have on stage to go berserk is what makes us want to go on. We have many shows planned including a trip down to SXSW. We hope to be a positive influence for the people who enjoy our music and intend to stick around as long as the world lets us.

FRIDAY, 2/10/12
Netherfriends, Secret Colours, Vamos @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.

Muggy McMurphy's Rock Pick

MONDAY, 1/6/12

Radar Eyes, Bare Mutants, Outer Minds @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.

Records are being released this night! Come gather 'round the bar and hoist your PBRs in celebration of these feats of achievement!

Read the Reglar Wiglar Interview with Radar Eyes!

Comics Review: Not Alone

NOT ALONE
By Vyatcheslav F. & Nickolay P. (Ag Digital)

The folks at the start-up, Ag Digital, bring us this twenty page, full-color graphic novel. It's full color, sure, but that's not to say that it's full of color. In fact, it's a pretty drab backdrop to the dreary existence the book's characters find themselves—like their lives, the colors are muted. Not Alone is a story about being alone. It's about alienation in a relationship between a husband and his wife and child. The story is simple with very little dialogue: man wakes up in the morning, he kisses his wife as she lays sleeping, but something’s not quite right. She appears to be a mannequin. Time passes. They argue over the breakfast table. “Don’t yell at me,” the man says, but his wife's expression never changes—how could it? She’s made of plastic. In the end the roles are reversed and it is the man who becomes inanimate. At least that's how he appears to his wife, but maybe this is just the way they see each other. Maybe this is the way we all see each other?—Chris Auman

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Muggy McMurphy's Rock Pick

SUNDAY, 2/5/12
Super Bowl XLVI Party featuring Football @ Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.

So apparently this band is some sorta super group, but all I know is they're called Football. I'm going to assume that this is in reference to the American variety and not the game where a ponce like Dunc the Punk skips around the pitch, pissed off his arse, punting a round ball back and forth to and fro. A round ball! Ha! Bollocks, Dunc, bollocks!

Muggy McMurphy's Rock Pick

SATURDAY, 2/4/12
Cooler By The Lake, Sweet Cobra, Deminer, Full On, The Party Downers @ Empty Bottle,1035 N. Western Ave.

Yes, it is Super Bowl Eve, but more importantly it's Mat Arluck's Birthday, so it's time to celebrate his life and times in memorium, Saturday at the Empty Bottle! I'll drink to that (I was gonna be drinkin' anyway)!

Comics Review: King-Cat #72

KING-CAT #72

John Porcellino (Spit & a Half)

Number 72 of King-Cat Comics and Stories finds John recovering from the end of his second marriage. There's a a move to Florida and a new relationship. There's the end of the new relationship which results in an eventual move to South Beloit, Illinois (population 8,401). This is where John currently resides in between his jaunts across the U.S. selling his wares at various small press and comics fests. As in past issues of KC, we get snapshots of John’s life in the form of comic strips and sketches taken from ideas and notes he jots down in his notebooks. There are some “South Beloit Journal” strips depicting life in a small town (doing laundry and watching basketball at his mom's, checking his e-mail at the library, etc.). There's the “King-Cat Top Forty” with recommendations on books, music, movies, towns and sports teams that give John and boost, and there are various and sundry anecdotes, stories and observations on bats, past drug experiences and life's little, seemingly mundane, moments that one can only hope will serve a purpose in retrospect—Chris Auman

Always read Reglar Wiglar!

Muggy McMurphy's Rock Pick

FRIDAY, 2/3/12
Summer Girlfriends, Blasted Diplomats, Pamphleteers @ Cole's Bar, 2338 N. Milwaukee Ave.

If you like good old fashion indie rock and roll, like they played back in the day (the 90s in this case), then you would be wise to check out the B. Dips on Friday. I would consider you to be wise, at any rate.

Read the Reglar Wiglar Interview with the Blasted Diplomats!

Read the Reglar Wiglar Interview with the Summer Girlfriends while you're at it!

Muggy McMurphy's Rock Pick

THURSDAY, 2/2/12
Mars Argo, Everything She Wants, Garrett Borns @ Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave.

There's just something about the music of Mars Argo that makes me want to jump right out the window. I live on the first floor though, so I guess it just makes me want to hurt myself a little.

R.I.P. Don Cornelius

September 27, 1936 – January 31, 2012

Muggy McMurphy's Rock Pick

WEDNESDAY, 2/1/12
E+, Coffin Pricks, Wimps @ Schuba's, 3159 N. Southport Ave.

Punk rock will never be buried alive, 'cause if it ever was buried alive, some band like these guys would come along and prick holes in the coffin. And that's the origination of the name Coffin Pricks that I would like to get started. You heard it here first.