In the corner by the bass player two young hipsters — one male, one female — frolicked, gyrated, boogied, bopped, swung, and generally made the rest of us look like thumb-up-our-ass concert denizens. In their defense, however, the music evoked on the Empty Bottle’s free Monday night show on the 30th warranted more than a few nonchalant head-nods.
Strange Young Lovers, a quartet of black-clad rockers, seemed strangely at ease and composed, especially considering it was only their second show. Evoking a post Jack White indie vibe, echoes of The Vines and The Strokes were evident in their familiar yet catchy guitar driven power-punk rock. While the lead singer belted out “I don’t know why, but I like you,” I shook my head in affirmation and a friend shouted into my ear, “If this isn’t screaming for an iTunes single, I don’t know what is.” And he should know, he works for these elitist assholes. I kid… maybe.
Smoke cleared, the crowd pushed in, and Unicycle Loves You took the stage, a quintet of “glitchy popsters” according to Time Out Chicago. Armed with pop sensibility and enough spirited “bah bah bah”s to inspire faith in the long dead gods of rock, ULY stumbled through their first two songs on the border line between dysfunction and mania to emerge the fanatically devout proclaimers of a new era.
As diverse in style as they are in apparel, the hodgepodge of talent (two members hail from Berkeley School of Music) and influence are dizzying at times. 60’s organ blips with Baroque-esque constructions set the backdrop to 80’s inspired jovial lyrics and distinct hints of late nineties lead guitar solos. While the effects of such extreme heterogeneity may induce schizophrenia in lesser bands, Unicycle holds it together with the glue of its upbeat demeanor and an underpinning of cultural cynicism marked by quirky romanticism. Recently, Unicycle Love You signed with indie label Highwheel Records and plan on recording their first album sometime in the fall.
By the time the smoke had cleared from ULY and its growing fan base, I began to head for the door. Walking Bicycles played my way out. To be fair, I didn’t hear enough to review, though it wasn’t my cup of tea… at least from what I could hear through 2 feet of brick wall.
(All photos by Lauren Kornman)
Nice review.
Thanks for the review!
Glad you liked the openers, they were both amazing bands!!
But, how can you review a band you admittedly did not see? Second, as for the bands names.. TYSL and Unicycle both have Love in their names. So…… For future clarification.. Highwheel Records is owned by Walking Bicycles so glad you like one of our artists, next time you should see the bands you review. You should do some research on what is it you are reviewing! Again, thanks for the Unicycle Loves You love..
Saw the show, feel about the same as you. Right up until the end, there.
The Walking Bicycles description was written in such poor form as “I’m going to review how this record sounds based on the artwork”.
Sorry to complain, but this is a pet peeve of mine. It’s the kind of writing that can make you stand out from or lump you in with “elitist asshole”-type journalism.
Noted and repaired. I stand by my opinion, but not my review thereof. Thanks for the feedback.
you elitist asshole.