This is a very cool storefront in the South Loop converted into a temporary art gallery and performance space. The bands were a lot of fun, a painter was creating an original work of art with each band performance, and there were lots of teenagers making out. Solid night.

Doleful Lions were solid indie rock with good songs. I bought their tape (jeals of bands that are releasing tapes right now).

If I had to guess, I’d say the kids of Earth Program like Jeff Mangum and punk rock. My little brother would have dug them.

Architecture is a great electro-pop girl duo. Love and Radiation has to play a show with these two.

I wanted to be a kid again watching this show. It reminded me so much of the fun, unregulated spots where kids in Binghamton put on shows back in the day. Sigh.

Since the members of Go Time are sweet and friendly, I wasn’t shy about getting in their faces to take a decent photo for once. Every time I see this band, I’m really impressed. Their songwriting is excellent — it’s got the fun, fast poppiness of Mac McCaughan and the bite of the Pixies, especially the Joey Santiago lead guitars. Scott plays beautiful Rickenbackers of which I’m way jealous. Everyone in the band sings pretty well. Talking to Scott before the show, I learned that he writes multiple songs every week. (Paul also contributes some songwriting, also good.) Ultimately, the band chooses its album tracks from among 50 to 60 demos. I admire this. The hard work shows.

Silvie’s was recently all re-done inside and is much improved. It sounds better, the stage is bigger, and the new silvery wall paper looks pretty cool. The stage is now in the back of the room, and the lighting and sound systems are both really nice for a room that size. It’s still got the weirdest vibe ever with Silvie’s husband micro-managing everything (in a well meaning, but nonetheless overbearing way) and the drinks being too expensive. Still, I’d like to play another show here.

I love The Mutiny and I loved this show. Mark and I got supermugs of Old Style and watched the punk kids smash each other’s heads. I really can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday night. It reminded me of (the goofy, non-angsty parts of) being a teenager.

I need to become a better photographer. This venue is super fun, and Natalie is a beauty. My iPhone photo does neither justice!

Natalie is an extravagantly talented singer and songwriter. Her songs remind me a lot of what I liked about Fiona Apple when I first heard the song Shadowboxer. It’s beautiful, but more importantly, it’s got guts and vibrant, bright emotions. Natalie’s voice is powerful and a little gritty in all the right ways. She uses a lot of vocal loops as a rhythmic element. Her performance is fun and engaging. Before each song, Natalie gleefully announced the topic or inspiration: “This one is about drugs!” “This one is about doing girls!” Seriously people, if you like things that are good, make this girl famous.

The super-cute kids with whom Love and Radiation shares rehearsal space have a No Doubt tribute band called Don’t Speak. They were impressive and fun. They do spot on renditions of No Doubt hits from all eras (Just a Girl to Hella Good) with lots of energy, fabulous crowd interaction, and excellent vocals (lead and backing). I was scared to go to Cubby Bear (crowds of drunk young kids are not quite my scene) but it was pretty friendly and the stage, lighting and sound system were all really nice.

Maybe it’s the fact that I grew up reading Ayn Rand novels, but if I made music this gorgeous, I definitely wouldn’t call my project Deadbeat. It sounds so nonchalant. So apathetic. This one-woman band is anything but. Jessica’s guitar playing is nuanced and varied, ranging from delicate arpeggios to snarling riffs. The songs remind me of what I loved about 1990s Cat Power and PJ Harvey — roughness and beauty in equal parts. Ever since I first saw her play at Gallery Cabaret, I’ve been followed by the lovely, sad melody of “(I’d Settle for a) Nightsong,” which you really must listen to:

(I’d Settle For A) NIGHT SONG by deadbeat.

Also, she has flashy holiday lights strung across stage during her show, which is fun. Go see her on March 13 at Double Door or March 26 at Hungry Brain.

My local music quest continues! I went to high school with the drummer for Hidden Hospitals. Everyone in the band is good looking. They were very well rehearsed, energetic and professional. It was a boys night, though. Not a single lady among four bands.

Rumor is that Pancho has retired. Now this place is called “Township.” It is different in the following ways: (1) the palm trees on the wall have been painted over with a gray-purple paint job; (2) they are serving fancy and expensive beers (they still have Old Milwaukee for $2, though); (3) Pancho isn’t behind the bar doing tricks and rocking out! Still. this is a good local venue.

The Sometimes Family is a pitch-perfect neo soul project fronted by the wicked talented songwriter, singer and guitarist Rebecca Sometimes. It was such fun to see her great band play on Schuba’s nice stage. Check out the slightly sad, way dancy track “Pockets and Peppermint.”

It seems as though everyone I know is playing a show in the next couple of months. Let’s see how many of these I can make it to. I’m gonna try my darndest. Here’s your calendar of events:

1-21: Go Time! at Horseshoe
1-23: Sometimes Family at Schubas
1-28: Paper Thick Walls at Congress Theater
2-3: Hidden Hospitals at Poncho’s
2-9: Everlene at Double Door
2-11: Don’t Speak at Goose Island
2-23: Natalie Grace Alford at VFW
2-24: Puritan Pine at Gallery Cabaret
3-30: Shift at The Mutiny
3-30: Love and Radiation at Transistor

10. Those Darlins — Screws Get Loose

This album makes me giggle. I love the rude brashness of this band’s country-inflected surf punk. These are funny, boozy songs about the difficulty of obtaining anti-depressants, the annoyance of being pursued by a boy whom you think of as a buddy, and eating. It’s not intellectual, but it is super fun party music.

09. Wild Flag — Wild Flag

This is a righteous mission statement from iconic musicians Mary Timony, Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss and Rebecca Cole, who joined forces this year to remind us to get excited about guitars. There’s a ton of love and energy pumping through this record.

08. PJ Harvey — Let England Shake

She’s back and as soul-shaking as ever. This darkness takes you off guard. The songs have a sweetness to them, but when PJ sings a bleak line such as: “let me walk through the stinking alleys to the music of drunken beatings” in that gorgeously harsh voice of hers, it’s genuinely menacing and disturbing. This is PJ’s unmatched, inimitable brilliance in full force.

07. Real Estate — Days

Statistically, I shouldn’t like this. It’s gentle, bro-fronted indie rock; the kind of thing I declared myself “over” once people started going gaga over bland, boring music like Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses. But this is different. It’s the song writing and the artful, melodic lead guitar that make this a lovely listen.

06. St. Vincent — Strange Mercy

The violence of Annie Clark’s guitar playing twists your guts. It’s creative, different and most importantly, unreservedly technical, which too few women care about these days.

05. Pains of Being Pure at Heart — Belong

This sophomore outing from these twee shoegazers is fun, shiny and heartfelt with strong choruses, big fuzzy guitars, and sincere lyrics.

04. Coasting — You’re Never Going Back

I was destined to fall in love with this from the get-go. It’s a two-girl power duo with small, self-contained songs boasting strong melodies, pretty harmonies, power-pop energy and a hefty dose of reverb. This stuff charms me beyond belief and I’m powerless to resist this album. My favorite song is “For Hours”. When I played it for my brother, he said, “it sounds like something you wrote.”

03. Dum Dum Girls — Only in Dreams

This is the second album from an all-girl band led by the impossibly stylish guitarist/ singer/ songwriter Kristin Gundred (nom de tune DeeDee). It’s distorted and catchy and fun as can be. But what really stands out for me are the wonderful lyrics. Gundred tackles some very heavy stuff here — the death of her mother and long periods of separation from her husband — with such sweetness and intelligence. I admire her songwriting so much, and I connect with this one on that emotional level. Perhaps the only knock on this album is the very repetitive drumming.

02. Cults — Cults

This is album is a lemonade on a hot day. The songcraft is impeccable. Every one of these ten effortless, vintage pop numbers is jammed with hooks that you’ll remember with one listen and never be able to forget. Take this to the beach and forget all your troubles.

01. Yuck — Yuck

This one summons images for me — highways, breezy days, flannel shirts, unwashed hair. Yuck is the poster child for the 90s revival that’s going on right now. But it’s more than pastiche. These are wonderfully written songs that perfectly marry grit with melody, youthful carelessness with youthful passion, rocking out with getting straight to the point. I love the guitars on this album so much: they’re the kid brother of Steven Malkmus and Ira Kaplan. More than anything, I love Yuck for sparking that feeling in me this year. That feeling that I used to love so much about music: that I was witnessing something special, new, meaningful and mine.