Dastardly-May You Never...CD Review

Chicago's Dastardly makes its full album debut with May You Never..., an alternately stirring and subdued mix of classic Americana and cutting edge indie rock.

May You Never...gets off to a glorious start with "Villains," which marries old-time folk and bluegrass to a noisy bridge reminiscent of Wilco's "Ashes of American Flags." "Exercises in Self Loathing" and "Creepy" operate at opposite ends of the spectrum, the former a gleeful gallop that contrasts nicely to the latter's mournful tone. "Crystallized" is jaunty and benefits from Sarah Morgan's strong lead vocals. "Middle Ground" is a sparkling alt-country cousin to "Morning Blue," an homage to British folk. The album ends with "Traffic," a slyly humorous song couched in sad sack introspection.

Hometown fans can help the Dastardly celebrate the release of May You Never...at Schuba's Tavern on Thursday, Dec. 9.

Conan's Jimmy Vivino coming to Chicago this weekend with The Fab Faux!

So, did everyone tune into TBS for the debut of Conan last night? My favorite moment, hands down, was the musical finale with Conan, Jack White and new band leader Jimmy Vivino tearing it up on the Eddie Cochran rockabilly classic "Twenty Flight Rock."

Vivino will be in Chicago this Saturday, Nov. 13, with his other band, The Fab Faux, for a show at The Vic Theater.

The Fab Faux, which also features Will Lee from The Late Show with David Letterman, is more than a Beatles cover band. They perfectly re-create Fab Four classics, some of which were never performed live by John, Paul, George and Ringo!

This time out, they will being playing Abbey Road in its entirety, along with a handful of fan favorites.

The Fab Faux will be joined by the Creme Tangerine Strings and Hogshead Horns at 8 PM for an all-ages show. Tickets are available here.

The Volcano Diary-CD Review

Seattle's The Volcano Diary have released their debut CD, which was produced by Steve Fisk, best-known for his work with top grunge bands Nirvana, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees.

When the group's publicist contacted me about reviewing the album, I was expecting something heavy and distorted, but the bio suggested otherwise: "understated, yet dynamic" was the tag line and it proved to be pretty accurate.

The CD starts out strong with the moody "Revival," band leader Alicia Dara's vocals somewhat reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan. Other standout tracks include the more upbeat and lyrically evocative "Freezer Burn," "Pacifica," where Fisk's production recalls some of the best work of Daniel Lanois, the ethereal "Burning Hands" and self-referental album closer "Volcano."

The Volcano Diary celebrates the release of their eponymous debut with a show at the excellent Seattle venue Neumos on Monday, Nov. 22.