Thursday, July 21
David Wax Museum w/ Sleeping Jesus @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
American folk artists tend to draw from the same very familiar pool of influences, so it’s always refreshing when one looks outside the box. For songwriter David Wax, inspiration comes not only from the usual canon of Americana artists, but also from the eclectic folk music of Mexico. Accompanied in his David Wax Museum by multi-instrumentalist Suz Slezak (who plays, among other things, the quijada, a percussive instrument made from a donkey’s jawbone), Wax plays festive, worldly folk tunes on a jarana, a Mexican guitar. The group’s latest album, 2015’s Guesthouse, mixes things up further by adding stylized synthesizers to the mix.
Friday, July 22
Festa Italiana @ Summerfest Grounds
Plenty of festivalgoers will be loosening their belt an extra notch this weekend as Festa Italiana returns to the Summerfest grounds to celebrate its 39th year. In addition to vendors serving up meatballs, rice balls and all kinds of pasta, Festa offers dancing, a cannoli eating contest, a bocce ball competition, cooking demonstrations, flag throwers and nightly fireworks. Headliners this year include world-famous soprano Jackie Evancho; Bostyx (a band featuring former Boston guitarist David Victor that plays the music of both Boston and Styx); the Eagles cover band Hotel California and festival favorites The Bronx Wanderers, who put a youthful spin on early American rock ’n’ roll. (Through Sunday, July 24.)
Dr. Dog w/ The Bright Light Social Hour @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8:30 p.m.
The psychedelic indie rock group Dr. Dog has come a long way from their lo-fi beginnings. The band recorded their earliest albums with a Tascam 388 eight-track machine, which gave their songs a homespun sound. The shabby charm of those early recordings, along with symphonic hooks and melodies reminiscent of ’60s-era pop earned the band a small and devoted fan base before they struck their breakthrough with their 2005 album Easy Beat. They’ve grown more unpredictable with each release, but their latest takes them back to their roots. Released this winter, The Psychedelic Swamp is a trippy concept album based on songs that band members Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman demoed before they even formed the band.
|
|
Saturday, July 23
Xposed 4Heads w/ The Squeezettes @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 9 p.m.
Playing Devo songs isn’t much of a stretch for Milwaukee’s Xposed 4Heads, a veteran New Wave-era Milwaukee band that came up around the same time as Devo and trafficked in similarly catchy, similarly subversive synth-pop tunes. Next month, the band will be playing at a Cleveland Devo fan festival called DEVOtional, where they’ll pepper their set with a number of Devo covers; to warm up, they’re previewing that performance with this local show. They’ll be joined by The Squeezettes, who will be playing a number of polka New Wave covers.
Riff Raff w/ Dollabillgates, Trill Sammy and Dice Soho @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
Texas novelty rapper Riff Raff received what must have been a massive ego lift in 2012 when rumors circulated that he was the inspiration for James Franco’s trashy aspiring rapper character in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers. And indeed, there were more than a few similarities between the two, but Riff Raff is ultimately a more ingratiating, entertaining personality than Franco’s underground rapper Dangeruss—less interested in street cred and more interested in simply moving crowds. In 2014, Riff Raff released his debut album for Diplo’s Mad Decent label, Neon Icon, to absolutely scathing reviews. Undeterred, he followed it up with a similarly bawdy sophomore album, this June’s Peach Panther, which features ridiculous rapping over genuinely great beats from producers like Lex Luger, Scott Storch and Metro Boomin.
Sunday, July 24
David Liebe Hart w/ Iron Pizza, Scrimshaw, 3GI and Father Freedom @ Riverwest Public House, 7 p.m.
If you’ve flipped through cable late at night, there’s a good chance you’ve come across David Liebe Hart and wondered, “Who the hell is this guy?” The outsider artist is a fixture of Adult Swim’s “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” on which he showcases his unorthodox puppetry and oddball songs. The show’s mock-public access vibe is a natural fit for Hart, who got his start as a puppeteer on a Christian public access show in Los Angeles. For this show, Hart will be joined by backing musician Jonah “Th’Mole” Mociun for a night of music, puppets and videos.
Monday, Aug. 25
Dälek @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
Long before Kanye West released Yeezus and acts like Death Grips were trafficking in nihilistic, industrial rap, the experimental New Jersey duo Dälek was testing the boundaries of just how noisy rap music can be. At their best, Dälek’s brand of rap could be not only explosively loud, but also strangely beautiful and poetic. Both sides of their sound are represented on their sixth and latest album, Asphalt of Eden (their first since returning from a four-year hiatus). Testifying to the duo’s cross-genre appeal, the record was released on the heavy-metal label Profound Lore.
Tuesday, July 26
Jeremy Enigk w/ Into It. Over It. @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Few figures in emo loom larger the Jeremy Enigk, who with his band Sunny Day Real Estate recorded one of the genre’s greatest debuts, 1994’s Diary. Though nothing he’s done since has surpassed that high water mark—including a self-titled record with his post-Sunny Day band The Fire Theft and a series of solo albums—his confessional songwriting continues to influence many of the leading acts of emo’s current wave. It’s fitting, then, that one of those acts will join him on this bill. With his band Into It. Over It., Chicago songwriter Evan Thomas Weiss just released his most powerful record yet, Standards, a collection of thoughtful meditations on outgrowing the friendships and relationships that once defined you. Weiss will perform a solo acoustic set at this show.
Børns w/ Lewis Del Mar and Beau @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Børns is the exotic stage name of Garrett Borns, a singer from the decidedly un-exotic hometown of Grand Haven, Mich. Maybe it’s because of his ordinary upbringing that his music conveys such a sense of fantasy. His glammy blend of soul and rock feels like it was piped in from a daydream, and it’s no coincidence that its aesthetic mirrors the retro/modern hybrid of Lana Del Rey; his debut album Dopamine was recorded with producer Emile Haynie, who worked on Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die. The album’s effusive hit single “Electric Love” put him on the map, and he’s been on the rise ever since. In a sign of his growing popularity, this show has been moved from the Turner Hall Ballroom to the larger Pabst Theater.
Wednesday, July 27
The Baseball Project w/ The Wooldridge Brothers @ Anodyne Coffee, 8 p.m.
The supergroup The Baseball Project pairs former Dream Syndicate leader Steve Wynn with an impressive lineup of friends and peers, including co-writer/bassist Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, The Minus 5, R.E.M.), guitarist Peter Buck (R.E.M., The Minus 5) and drummer Linda Pitmon (Zuzu’s Petals, Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3). And true to their name, every song they perform is about baseball. In 2014 they released their third collection of tunes about America’s pastime, 3rd, which includes odes to Yankee Stadium, Larry Yount, Luis Tiant, Lenny Dykstra, extra innings and baseball cards. It ends with a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
