Gang Gang Dance

Occupying a central space in the Brooklyn experimental scene for at least half a decade, Gang Gang Dance makes experimental electronic music with a decidedly tribal bent. On 2005’s breakout LP God’s Money, Gang Gang display their hypnotizing acumen with a deconstructionist layering of watery synths, percussion clatter, delayed guitar riffs, bass dub and, of course, vocalist Liz Bougatsos’ pinched pied-piper intonations front and center. 2008’s Saint Dymphna saw the group triumph in codifying their outer eccentricities into a useable dance-pop album while at the same time pushing in new directions — taking cues from grime, house, prog and even Afro-funk. The just-released Eye Contact continues the work of Dymphna, presenting seven prismatic gems of avant-pop. You might think you’re hearing M83 one minute, Maserati the next and M.I.A. the third, and yet somehow it all hangs together. Without equivocation, Gang Gang Dance are masters of that which defies explanation. (Saturday, 3:20-4:15, Red Stage) –text: David Wicik

Cage the Elephant, Dan Deacon, Gang Gang Dance, He Say, She Say, Kaiser Chiefs, Neon Hitch, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Raveonettes

CAGE THE ELEPHANT
Southerners always seem to bring a certain charm to their music. Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Cage the Elephant have introduced a punk smoothie to their Southern-fried sound blended with blues and pop. Their hit “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” from last year’s debut album exploded in the U.K., where the band moved after signing with EMI in 2007. The band is back in the States this summer, hoping to bring the buzz with them. (Sunday, 2:15-3, Citi Stage) –text: Katie Knaub–photo: Sharjo / The Pound Gallery

DAN DEACON
Who better to piece thousands of sequential blips, bleeps and burps on top of one another than a guy with a master’s degree in doing just that? It’s what makes Bromst both the latest and most refined album from sample-happy Baltimore oddball Dan Deacon. A student of electro-acoustic composition at Purchase College State University of New York, Deacon’s sweaty carnival-style interactive assault on his audience is a far cry from any cramped classroom. (Sunday, 3:30-4:30, Vitaminwater Stage) –text: Derek Wright–photo: Josh Sisk

GANG GANG DANCE
New York City’s Gang Gang Dance is one of those singular bands that simply does not sound like anyone else. Their avant-garde approach to hipster indie rock stands out for its bizarrely accessible blend of downtempo drums, electronic whirrs and abstract tribal melodies, evoking the creative energy of contemporaries such as Animal Collective and Black Dice. GGD is a band with little to prove and a lot to say. (Sunday, 3:30-4:30, Citi Stage) –text: Matthew Partington–photo: Josh Wildman

HE SAY, SHE SAY
She works the door at Chicago’s Debonair Social Club. He works the local scene. Together they work the crowd. He Say, She Say is comprised of Drea Smith and producer Million Dollar Mano. With their educational X-rated lyrics, they’ll make you hotter than last night’s dirty internet porn. So grab some TP before you roll to their show, because these hipsters are about to make a bad habit even worse. (Sunday, 2:30-3:30, Perry’s) –text: Alexis Nido-Russo–photo: Clayton Hauck

KAISER CHIEFS
According to the never-questionable and always-sober reasoning of Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, if the “real” Blur is back, then “shit Blur” must be back too. But as the iconic sun-glassed singer correctly pointed out, the mod-rocking Leeds, England quintet known as Kaiser Chiefs — and also known for copping Damon Albarn and Co. — did return last year. And the band’s third LP, Off With Their Heads, did indeed seem a bit…um…Blur-y. (Sunday, 2:30-3:30, Budweiser Stage) –text: Derek Wright

NEON HITCH
Sonically up-and-coming U.K. songstress Neon Hitch falls somewhere between the realm of early Nelly Furtado and Lily Allen, but her inspirations come from a slightly different place. Raised as a gypsy in southern England, Hitch performed in a traveling circus but soon ran off to find herself and eventually her love for singing. Her edgy, hip-hop vibe caught the interest of EMI as well as producer Benny Blanco, with whom she’s set to collaborate for her debut album. (Sunday, 3-3:45, BMI Stage) –text: Mike Scales–photo: Mark Surridge

THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT
The Airborne Toxic Event is one of those rare bands that makes you stop in your tracks the first time you hear them. Frontman Mike Jollett delivers songs like deeply personal stories which compel you to listen carefully to each revelation. Haunting viola, pulsating drum and harmonizing keys, guitar and bass complete the scene. The band literally started out as a novel, and Jollett’s way with words is nothing short of epic. (Sunday, 2:30-3:30, Chicago 2016 Stage) –text: Jen Fischer–photo: Kristi Sparrow

THE RAVEONETTES
Sexy Danish duo Sune Wagner and Sharin Foo have been rockin’ as The Raveonettes since the turn of the millennium and will release their fourth full-length, In and Out of Control, in October. Though they’re inspired by American rock ‘n’ roll of the ’50s & ’60s (their moniker is a combination of The Ronettes and Buddy Holly’s “Rave On!”), The Raveonettes add a dark, distorted twist to their sound that makes for a truly unique rock experience. (Sunday, 3:30-4:30, PlayStation Stage) –text: Mike Scales

Gang Gang Dance, Growing, O’Death, Pool of Frogs

GANG GANG DANCE
Any band that titles its first LP Revival of the Shittest is probably asking for a pun-laden takedown, but New York’s Gang Gang Dance silence all but the most stubborn contrarians with their heavily percussive, synth-driven psychedelia. Through incremental amounts the quartet has incorporated more conventional song structure into its sonic vocabulary, with their latest release, Saint Dympha, promising to be the breakthrough at which previously-released EPs have hinted. Past tracks like “God’s Money” have relied on an Afrobeat-style hypnotic repetition and dark, minimalist keys. New songs like “Princes” and “Nicoman”, both from the new record, take those same artistic reference points but recontextualize them as straight-ahead pop. Like fellow buzz band High Places or local group Brilliant Pebbles, Gang Gang Dance incorporates bits of world music, creepy synth ambience and an idiosyncratic sense of songcraft to create music that flips pop on its head. (Appearing with Marnie Stern and Growing at Empty Bottle on Nov. 3) –text: Jon Graef–photo: Josh Wildman

GROWING
Despite Growing’s prolific catalog — 13 albums in five years — everything about the fuzzy electronic duo reeks of minimalism. Whether it’s Kevin Doria and Joe Denardo losing the band’s third member before relocating to Brooklyn from Olympia, Washington or their tendency for cassette-only releases, the pair’s sludgy instrumentals are rife with DIY aesthetic. Given the vast nature of their music, including this year’s Lateral EP and subsequent full-length All The Way, such a proclivity towards self-recording seems strange. But even during Growing’s spaciest tunes, like the ones that let their distorted blips breathe for a moment on top of swooning digital bleeps, there remains a sparse undercurrent. It seems almost inappropriate that the band has made its home in both the Pacific Northwest and now New York City when their music so perfectly embodies the Midwest: big but barren. This month Growing makes their second Chicago appearance in less than six weeks. (Appearing with Gang Gang Dance and Marnie Stern at Empty Bottle on Nov. 3) –text: Derek Wright

O’DEATH
The “rednecks bang on things loudly and yell” genre has a lot more legs to it than many expected and while it seems conspicuously ripe for the Spinal Tap treatment 10 years down the line, at the moment no one does it better than Brooklyn’s O’Death. Their debut record Head Home has been slowly winning over converts with its raucous gothic Americana, a process hastened by their deservedly storied live shows. On stage the band is a whirlwind of fiddles, homemade percussion, banjos and stomping drums…a stationary marching band that never fails to compel. There are moments when the music seems to be trying too hard for the sort of hyper-authenticity that most often manifests itself in vapid irony, but they often pull back just before the point of parody. These Brooklynites are about as Southern as The Olive Garden is Italian, but they manage to purvey its gruff, Appalachian feel well enough to keep most from minding. (Appearing with Drakkar Sauna and Elliott Brood at Empty Bottle on Nov. 8 and at The Hideout on Nov. 9) –text: Don Bartlett

POOL OF FROGS
Even reasonable people might wonder what to expect from a band named Pool of Frogs. While their name references a 4th century BC tragedy narrated by an omnipotent pool of frogs, they’re not quirky just for the sake of quirkiness. The Chicago band, which considers itself the chorus of our modern-day tragedy, creates cynically sweet music with some seriously sharp teeth. The foursome labels their sound as “river punk”, a gritty and harmonious marriage of lead singer/songwriter Chad Barney Fess and bassist Brenton Engle’s Southern Illinois roots with guitarist Blake Sloan and drummer Will Duncan’s urban upbringings. They don’t mince words, but they do mingle genres. Take the tongue-in-cheek “King of the Catholic Church”, a silly folk song that charges into racing rock. Then there’s “Black River”, a twang-heavy hillbilly version of an Irish punk number. Though always remarkable, Pool of Frogs’ infectious music shines brightest live. (Appearing with Bang! Bang!, Unicycle Loves You and Brilliant Pebbles at the Bottom Lounge on Nov. 8) –text: Jen Fischer

The Electric Soft Parade, Gang Gang Dance, Maserati, White Rabbits

THE ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE
These Brit brothers are good. Alex and Tom White, the main musical brain behind The Electric Soft Parade (they tour with various bassists and drummers) have developed a very creative take on the whole dance rock/post-post punk/new British/excessive usage of forward-slashes sound. The difference between their approach and the approach of countless others is simple to ascertain: they sound better and write better songs. Acoustic guitars and pianos on some songs will exist symbiotically with the syncopated bass and fuzz that blisters through others. Instead of barking or gawking their lyrics like robots, they actually sing. With three albums and an EP of material over the last five years, most recently the new No Need to Be Downhearted, you can tell that ESP is playing for keeps. And if for some reason you don’t like their music, at least you’ll feel smarter and/or more cultured after listening to them. (Appearing with BrakesBrakesBrakes and Pela at Empty Bottle on June 10) –text: Billy Kenefick–photo: Mervyn Penrose

GANG GANG DANCE
Well-known in the New York scene as having created their own underground genre of music (named “neo-primivist” or “neo-tribal”), Gang Gang Dance continues to maintain their eclectic, uncompromising creative direction. The 4-piece electro/experimental band from Brooklyn has an almost surreal sound — combining the stylistic elements of Asian, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian, hip-hop, rock and electronic music. On their latest release, 2005’s Hillulah (which is made up of candidly-comprised songs from live sets and practice sessions), the band clashes light cymbals, chimes, randomly-compiled voices and poly-dimensional tones that emit the type of feeling one might experience when encountering a radically different culture for the first time. And though their sound might seem over-stylized or packed with too many disorganized, unfocused elements, Gang Gang Dance’s hypnotic sound and self-governing style screams innovation, making it nearly impossible to turn away. The band has just released the new DVD/CD/art film Retina Riddim, created by band member and visual artist Brian DeGraw in advance of their next studio full-length. (Appearing with Teith at Empty Bottle on June 9) –text: Jackie Bernardo

MASERATI
No, Maserati is not a sports car. According to the band, “Maserati is a son of a bitch hell bent on dismembering every last vestige of the so-called indie rock establishment before it can drive the last nail in its messenger-bag-wearing coffin.” More to the point, however, Maserati is an instrumental 4-piece from Athens, Georgia, who loudly go where some of their post-rock contemporaries fear to tread. It’s psychedelic. It’s proggy. It’s epic. It’s vocal-free rockin’. It’s great summer music — perfect for a drive at dusk or perhaps serving as a welcome banner to greet the cicadas. But you need not associate their music with Biblical plagues, either. Together, Coley Dennis, Steve Scarborough, Matt Cherry, and Jerry Fuchs (of !!!, Turing Machine, LCD Soundsystem) have just released the aptly named Inventions For The New Season, which should be played at mind-shearing volume as you cruise up and down Lake Shore Drive this summer. (Appearing with Del Rey at the Lakeshore Theater on June 5) –text: Brendan Dabkowski–photo: Adam Bueb

WHITE RABBITS
In some areas of the U.K., there’s an old superstition that saying “White Rabbits” on the first day of a month will bring you good fortune. Fortunately White Rabbits won’t need to count on that luck — their debut album, Fort Nightly, shows they’ve got plenty of talent in the bank. The Midwesterners-turned-Brooklynites have sculpted their many influences (reggae, soul, rock, calypso) into a distinct sonic swagger, walking the line between youthful ingenuity and inebriation. They take strides towards what The Walkmen, French Kicks and Cold War Kids are on about, while still maintaining their own distinguishable path. With their infectious rhythmic blows, it’s difficult to keep your foot from tapping or your body from bobbing along to the beat. Maybe the Chinese Zodiac has it wrong — 2007 just might turn out to be the Year of the Rabbit after all. (Appearing at Schubas on June 5) –text: Megan Poepsel