
I stood behind a couple of bros during a portion of Limp Bizkit's concert Sunday at the Granada. (Here's my review .) Not only did they know every word to every song, the ecstatic dudes appeared to associate specific memories from high school with hits like "My Way." Limp Bizkit was obviously their favorite band- then, now and always. I envy that sort of single-minded dedication. My love of most everything makes obsessing on just one thing impossible. That's why I was delighted when I encountered the handiwork of [...]

In March 2010, Big Star' s Jody Stephens honored late band mate Alex Chilton with an impromptu all-star performance of the band's 1978 classic, Third (later Sister Lovers ), during South by Southwest. Later that year, Stephens unearthed the album's original scores and began staging a handful of shows across the country, featuring a shifting lineup of performers and singers, along with a full orchestra. Now, the project has announced two new performances for Chicago (June 28th) and New York City (June 30th). Stephens will be on skins for both outings and [...]

Of course, Say Anything has "In Your Eyes", Goodfellas has "Layla", Apocalypse Now has "The End", Fight Club has "Where Is Your Mind", but a cover song in a movie is just different. A cover song in a movie elevates the drama - ascribing all kinds of meaning and sentiment to the music being played. All of a sudden this song that we're pretty sure we've heard before is chewing the scenery and the actors fade into the background. When the director has two characters listen to Sonic Youth cover The Carpenters, or opens his film with a dusty acoustic [...]
Eric's Trip - Songs About Chris (1993) With our pocket computers running Shazam, Spotify, YouTube and Google, it's nearly impossible to lose a song due to a lapse in human memory any more. This wasn't always the case. In the '90s, my pants pocket often held one very important, folded up piece of paper. This piece of paper, it could have been been a bill or a piece of homework, really deserved a more permanent place on my self, one not so prone to washings, would have been ideal. For on this piece of paper was a list of [...]
The other gravestone they had photographed, "Wiczenowski," didn't have quite the feel they were going for. Urge Overkill (1992) Neil Diamond (1967) Today's Cover Friday post is the final one in my series of songs written by Neil Diamond and covered with chart success by other groups. And it's a good thing too, I have to say: as much as I love the early Neil Diamond songs from his Bang Records years, there's something a little odd about the fact that four [...]

Ah, yes, the 1970s... Hot Chocolate (1974) Urge Overkill (1991) Cover Friday, Episode Twenty-Something-or-So . . . Hot Chocolate was a British funk/soul/rock group in the mid-'70s, best known for their huge 1975 hit "You Sexy Thing." But they had at least a few other great songs that aren't quite as well known these days, and one of my favorites is from their 1974 debut album, Cicero Park , which apparently never really got much notice in [...]

Het is eigenlijk een beetje vreemd dat Urge Overkill , dat donderdagavond optrad in de Charlatan in Gent , het meest bekend geworden is met de Neil Diamond -cover Girl, you'll be a woman soon (een nummer dat ze overigens niet in hun setlist hadden opgenomen). Want we kunnen alleen maar concluderen dat hun relatief tragere nummers het minst geslaagd blijken. Hoewel ze nog maar net een nieuw album onder de arm hebben, 16 jaar na Exit the dragon en 6 jaar na hun vorige tournee, besloten [...]
Sister Havana - Urge Overkill I should just let things lie in the past where slips into nostalgia and ebbs at recollection keep them as i remember them. I haven't heard this song probably in fifteen years, and fifteen years ago i remember loving it. I couldn't remember how it sounded at all - melody, sound, lyrics, structure - but i remember my pre-teen self thinking it (alternative) rocked. And i remember a certain cache of cool it gave me, being the only kid [...]

OMG, like my three fave guitar bands playing on the same night in Chicago this past weekend? Why wasn't I there? Sheesh! Teenage Bottlerocket , Urge Overkill and Weezer all killed it at Chicago's Riotfest 2011 this weekend. Critical Mass, which has the goods , wrote about Urge Overkill's set: "They blasted through such UO classics, new and old, like "Positive Bleeding" and "Bottle Of Fur" from their breakthrough album Saturation, and "The Break" from their last album from the 90's, Exit The Dragon mixed in with "Mason/Dixon" and [...]

Oh, what a weekend Chicago has in store for us all. Riot Fest , which technically kicked off yesterday, continues with big, big, big shows around town including DANZIG, Smoking Popes and Weezer. But if you’re not into the insanity of our annual punk-a-thon, look no further than T-Bone at Quenchers, Great Society Mind Destroyers at the Viaduct and a few more fests we think you’d enjoy immensely. You don’t want to find hell with me, mother. So let’s get to it. [...]
Today, Riot Fest announced the winner of their Weezer (The Blue Album) vs Pinkerton fan vote. 1994's Blue Album won the vote and the band will perform it in its entirety on October 9th at the Congress Theater in Chicago. The promoters have also announced the openers for the show. Chicago's Urge Overkill will be the primary openers, along with Teenage Bottlerocket and White Mystery .
Charles Bradley brings love to the Fisher Garden stage, Bumbershoot Day 3 One week later, the third day for Bumbershoot is finally in the books ( words & photos up for perusal at Bumpershine this morning ), and what a great day it was. I got to spend the early part of the day with my 4-year old photographer's assistant, found bliss with Charles Bradley, trip out with Phantogram, and enjoy some nostalgia with Urge Overkill and Grant Lee Buffalo. Previously: Day 1 ( Part 1 / Part 2 [...]

Charles Bradley at Bumbershoot 2011 (09/04/11) Words and Photos : Drake Lelane Enjoy the final installment of Drake's coverage from Bumbershoot 2011. -ed. Bumbershoot 2011 - Day 3 For the third and final day of Bumbershoot, I had a special guest with me to start out. My four-year old son Zane, freshly back from a week at Camp Grandpa, loves himself some live music, so he acted as my 'assistant' for the first half of the day. [...]

Urge Overkill , riding the momentum of its latest release Rock and Roll Submarine , has line up a few weeks of shows in Europe in November. Tour dates are below. The band just finished up a round of US shows, including this one in New York Harbor on the Rocks Off cruise boat . Those shows are always fun for band and fans. NY Examiner wrote : "Settled on the top deck, Kato, dressed dapper in white pants paired with matching, lime green shoes, belt and shirt, dressed for [...]

by Bill Pearis DOWNLOAD: Wild Beasts - "Loop the Loop" (MP3) DOWNLOAD : The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks (MP3) DOWNLOAD : Rayon Beach - Wave Pool Ether (MP3) DOWNLOAD : John Wesley Coleman - Ooh Basketball (MP3) DOWNLOAD : Urge Overkill - Effigy (MP3) Tom Vek This week is kind of nuts. I know you're all probably [...]
Littlefield Noticed the "Closed For Private Event" on our calendar 7/22 and 8/8? Can't tell you much, only that these two secret shows are with a VERY special band - and that you can win a pair of tix by telling us where to get hysterically delicious ice cream in NYC! Post in comments below! We will pick 3 winners for each date! Go! [ Littlefield's on Facebook ] Well, that's interesting isn't it? If you look at Littlefield's upcoming events feed, you'll also notice that [...]
Sometimes you just need a good dose of nostalgia. I certainly got that Thursday night at the Horseshoe as '90s power pop giants Urge Overkill took the stage. The band is out touring in support of Rock & Roll Submarine, their first album of new material in fifteen years. New songs like "Mason/Dixon", "Poison Flower", and the incendiary "Effigy" fell nicely into place among a set wisely heavy on
What this week's concert scene lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality. Here are my picks: The Black Keys w. Cage the Elephant, Molson Ampitheatre, Jul 7 Yes, Cage the Elephant do suck, but the blues-rock headliner The Black Keys will more than make up for it. They've come a long way since I saw them opening for Sleater-Kinney at The Opera House. The Black Keys' website Urge
One hears plenty of information about bands that make it to the big-time; somehow though, information becomes scarcer about what happens when they topple over the precipice about out of the public... Support indie media! Read the rest at thephoenix.com . . .
A 16-year hiatus has done little to diminish Urge Overkill's ability to lay down some serious no frills rock n' roll. Few bands ever self-sabotaged as frequently or as willfully as Urge Overkill. Here's a band that made unpopular decisions at every pivotal juncture of its career. By the time they dropped their major label debut, the near-flawless Saturation, in 1993, the band were already pariahs in their hometown of Chicago, having inked a deal with Geffen while still under contract with indie label Touch & Go. It may sound a little absurd to toady's music...