If nails on a chalkboard are closer to music in your ears than any heartfelt love ballad ever could be, last Saturday’s show at Beat Kitchen in Chicago, featuring FT(The Shadow Government), Racebannon and TODD, would have been a little piece of heaven on Earth. If that’s not a seal of approval, I don’t know what is.
FT(The Shadow Government) kicked off the night of irreverent noise rock with aplomb. At first they seemed a little too conscious of being “quirky” with their smoke machine and ironic lyrics that could have been lifted out of some emo boy’s diary, but their political dance party rock and rowdy showmanship – complete with two spot-on drummers – trumped all doubts or cares about sincerity.
Unfortunately for the members of Bloomington, Indiana’s Racebannon, most of FT’s girlfriends checked out before their set, a raucous mix of high-pitched vocal fury amid sleazy rock riffs akin to The Jesus Lizard.
But the real treasure of the night was the British invasion by US ex-pats TODD. Led by AmRep veteran Craig Clouse from Hammerhead, they left a gigantic mushroom cloud in the wake of their noise rock explosion. In addition to the mark left by the frenzied double guitars, the tremendous low end from the maniacally heavy synth (yes, synth) played by Fifi Cernosek left bystanders wondering, “What the fuck was that?”
This spring marks TODD’s first US tour after releasing their full length album TODD Comes To Your House in 2006. TODD can come to my house any time they want, but I’m sure my neighbors would run away screaming.
– Jamie Ludwig