Saturday Slumgullion

Photo from Melanie Vammen Facebook page.

Yesterday, I received the copy I ordered of the melanie and kim monday fanzine put together by Music Arkives and musician Melanie Vammen. It’s a 60-page, full-color effort that celebrates the friendship and musical partnership of Vammen and the late Kim Shattuck of The Muffs. And it raised money to help ALS (Lou Gehrig disease) research. In an email a while back, Vammen stated the melanie and kim monday ‘zine raised “a great amount of money for the ALS Network.” It’s always rewarding to join in when rock musicians use their fame to help others.

The Effigies, an early early and still highly regarded Chicago-based punk band, has a show coming up at Metro on the city’s north side next Friday, December 20. The Bollweevils and Ganser are also on the bill, and Metro owner Joe Shanahan will serve as DJ. The Effigies’ fifth album Burned, was released this past October, a little over a year after we lost founding member John Kezdy in a bicycle accident.

Jack White will start his massive 2025 Canada/USA/Japan No Name Tour on February 6 in Toronto, and he’ll have dates at The Salt Shed in Chicago on April 10 and 11.

 

Push Puppets, a band from my hometown of Palatine, recently finished a new album and will announce its release date soon. Their splendid 2023 album Allegory Grey featured catchy indie rock songs similar to Wilco, with a bit of Paisley Underground on some tracks.

Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart of “Year Of The Cat” fame and Zombies vocalist/founding member Colin Blunstone will perform shows together in Arizona and California in February and March. Stewart will be joined by The Empty Pockets, a band he’s performed with here in Chicago. The first concert will be in Phoenix on February 21. Blunstone will embark on a short European solo tour starting with Berlin on April 15th.

Congratulations to Chicago musician Lee D’buddah on completing his book Side by Side, Raisa and Lee hit the Road. According to his Facebook page, it’s based on their 1970 cross country trip in a converted 1965 VW bus. The book is now available on Amazon.

The Very Best Of Hi-Fi Christmas Party by various artists is now available on the Futureman Records Bandcamp site. The 25-track effort draws from three Hi-Fi Christmas Party CDs that were released on the indie Vandalay label in 2002, 2006, and 2010. The artists on this new Best release include The Jellybricks; Andrea Perry; Don Dixon; Phil Angotti; Jeremy; The Bradburys; Jigsaw Seen; The Elvis Brothers, Grip Weeds; Husky Team; and The Spongetones. 100% of the proceeds from The Very Best Of Hi-Fi Christmas Party are being donated to the Versiti Blood Research Institute (formerly The Blood Center) in Milwaukee, WI.

If you’re looking for holiday songs that offer some wisdom along with seasonal cheer, check out Herb Eimerman’s jangly “Don’t Ask For More” and The Twigs’ delicate and beautiful “Flying Kites On Christmas.” Both of these songs were released a while ago but showed up via recent posts by the artists on Facebook. 

The always authentic and impressive tribute band Tributosaurus will hold The Christmas Spectacular on December 21 at SPACE in Evanston. It will be interesting to see which artists and songs they’ll decide to cover.

The Toronto-based co-ed quintet Alvvays has released a 10th anniversary edition of its self-titled debut on Cerulean in Cloudy Clear vinyl that includes the previously unreleased track “Underneath Us.” The album also includes a poster print of hand drawn art by Canadian musician/artist Chad VanGaalen. 

Former Chicago area and now Greenville, SC musician Chris Cerasoli has found success this past year with a pair of melodic, indie rock singles he released as The chrisVandalay Project. His most recent “Your Favorite War” is included on the multi-track Caverns of Gold compilation, which benefits Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Other artists involved include Left Over Salmon: R.E.M.; North Mississippi Allstars; Luscious Jackson; The Mekons; BoDeans; and The Feelies. The chrisVandalay Project’ early release was “Better Than Before.” Both The chrisVandalay Project songs are available on various streaming sites.

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve have a 15-date In Concert Tour USA 2025 kicking off on February 19 in Easton, PA. The tour wraps up in Chicago on March 11, 12, and 14. Those three shows at the Park West will features Costello and Nieve joined by a full band.

The Bad Examples will return to Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights Saturday, January 4. Lead vocalist-guitarist Ralph Covert has a knack for composing clever, catchy songs that often remind people of Squeeze.

The Fest For Beatles Fans 2025 NY Metro event will take place at The Hyatt Regency Jersey City on March 28 – 30, and special guests will include Jim McCarty from The Yardbirds and Colin Hanton from The Quarrymen. Performers on the Apple Jam Stage will include Phil Angotti from Chicago. Congratulations to Phil on his first time being invited out to the Big Apple Fest.

Andrew Robert Palmer, who has released solo albums as ARP! and with his sister Becca Palmer as the Chicago alt rock duo Mother Z’s, has a new solo EP titled Letters to the Moon coming out on January 13. The four-track effort (two power pop/two acoustic) will be available on his Bandcamp page. In the meantime, you can check out the previous releases he’s posted there.

Vocalist Kate Fagan, whose long career on the Chicago alt rock scene included being a member of BB Spin and Heavy Manners, will host a HoHoHo Holiday Party on December 19 at Chickie Wah Wah in New Orleans, LA. She’ll be joined by Tom Hook, Jeremy Joyce, Sam Albright, and Rich Collins. Fagan will likely perform “2 Good 2 B True,” the new single she co-wrote with guitarist Jeremy Joyce.

Chicago area glam rockers The Artist Formally Known As Vince, or TAFKAVince as they’re more commonly called, have just released “a new, fun homemade low budget video” for their hard-hitting and adventurous song “A Problematic Opera.”

The Mekons recently released a new song titled “You’re Not Singing Anymore” and they have an extensive tour coming in 2025 that will include performances at the Square Roots Festival in Chicago and at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn, IL.

Lee Ketch from the Chicago-based indie rock band Mooner has just released more solo material on his Bandcamp page. This time out, he covers a pair of songs originally recorded by one of his favorite groups, Office Culture. “A Word” and “Was I Cruel” are engaging, acoustic-based ballads. Proceeds will be donated to Nourishing Hope Food Pantry, Chicago, IL. Ketch has a gig coming up at Constellation on January 9.

Wisconsin-based Americana rockers The BoDeans have upcoming gigs at The Ames Center in Minneapolis, MN on December 26 and at The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles, IL on December 28.

Sons Of The Silent Age, Chicago’s impressive David Bowie tribute band, have a Celebrating 50 Years Of David Bowie’s Young Americans And More show coming to Metro on January 11, 2025. Critically acclaimed actor Michael Shannon, who frequently shares a bill with Sons Of The Silent Age, will perform that night as John Lennon. Tickets are now on sale. Metro is located at 3730 N. Clark Street.

Tickets are now available for the EXTC - Terry Chambers And Friends show at City Winery Chicago on May 1, 2025. Chambers was the longtime drummer for the critically acclaimed and believe English band XTC.