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Festival Preview: Tomorrow Never Knows 2014

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by Jamie Ludwig

Chicago’s largest winter music, Tomorrow Never Knows, takes place from January 15-19 across six club stages concentrated around Lakeview and Lincoln Park. With a mix of independent rock, electronic, pop, experimental, and hip hop acts, TNK focuses on substance and emerging voices, and largely sidesteps the “throwback” phenomenon that has come to define many fests of similar or larger sizes these days while remaining accessible to all. This year’s lineup is among its best yet, which means that even the most ambitious festivalgoer will have some big decisions to make. Here are our picks for each night:

The Jim Jones Revue
January 15 at Schubas

The Jim Jones Revue is from London, England, but their music combines the best of classic American styles, mixing Sun Records boogie, Motor City-inspired riffage, and serious punk swagger. The band brings its high-energy rock ‘n’ roll dance party stateside on tour for its latest album, The Savage Heart.  The rest of the lineup is equally enticing, with Chicago indie rockers Minor Characters, doo wop / bubblegum hybrid Diane Coffee (the solo project of former Foxygen member Shaun Fleming), and local boogie/soul rockers, The Chicago Stone Lightning Band opening.
Tickets.

Oneohtrix Point Never
January 16 at Lincoln Hall

TNK’s Thursday night showcase at Lincoln Hall consists of many of the week’s most innovative artists. Headlining the evening is Brooklyn-based experimental electronic composer Oneohtrix Point Never (a.k.a. Daniel Lopatin), a prolific sonic explorer whose latest release, R Plus Seven (Warp), finds him toying with abstract song structure by way of sparse vocal interplay, ambient drone, twinkling keyboards, and textural beats. Lopatin is joined by his sometime collaborator, the critically-acclaimed ambient electronic composer Tim Hecker, bluesy/pop experimentalist Circuit des Yeux (a.k.a. Haley Fohr), and electronic artist Soleman.
Tickets

Weekend
January 17 at Schubas

New York by-way-of San Francisco quartet Weekend revels in dark, mournful post rock one minute, and shimmery, noise-pop the next. The band’s recent sophomore album, Jinx (Slumberland, 2013) is a reflective album inspired by personal loss, transition, and growth that steps away from some of the fuzz that characterized its 2010 debut, Sports, into more melodic, hook-driven terrain. Weekend is joined by the equally soul-baring Bare Mutants, a stripped-down, ‘60s-flavored band led by Jered Gummere of the Ponys. Philadelphia-based shoegaze outfit, Nothing, and local dream-pop quartet, StarTropicsround out the evening.
Tickets

Roomrunner
January 18 at the Metro

Roomrunner was started by Denny Bowen as a solo project following the demise of his previous band Double Dagger–a trio whose spastic, anything-can-happen performances made a deep impact on the independent concert circuit in Chicago and elsewhere. Taking cues from ‘90s fuzz rock and post-hardcore, Bowen released two EPs of under the Roomrunner monikker (playing all of the instruments himself), before settling on vocal and guitar duties and recruiting other musicians into the fold. The group’s full-length debut, Ideal Cities (Fan Death Records), is equal parts crunchy guitar riffs, headbang-worthy hooks, and quirkiness.  Iconic indie rockers Superchunk headline, and Split Single, the pop-driven rock group fronted by former Verbow frontman Jason Narducy (who also plays in Bob Mould’s band) is also on the bill.
Tickets

Diarrhea Planet
January 19 at Lincoln Hall.

Despite what the gross-out name might imply, Diarrhea Planet isn’t actually shitty (and I’m sure they’ve never heard that pun before…). The Nashville six-piece punk / power-pop group has only been around for a few years, but has made plenty of waves with their wild performances featuring a degree of guitar dueling not often found in the indie-rock sphere, or anywhere else for that matter. Seriously, how many bands have you heard of with four lead guitarists? The band’s latest release I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams came out on Infinity Cat Recordings. This TNK closing night showcase is headline by British alt-rock quartet, Yuck, with local melodic rockers Pink Frost and Toronto-based heartfelt indie rockers Alvvays opening up.
Tickets

Full details for Tomorrow Never Knows can be found here and 5-day festival passes can be purchased here.


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