listen to QWEE! today

QWEE! Now every other Monday except sometimes not!

The remaining dates for this quarter are TODAY 4/20, 5/4, 5/25, and 6/1. It’s likely I will have a summer show too, but that will perhaps be the FINAL SEASON OF QWEE! EVER.

Today I will be bidding farewell to Jennifer of Colour Me Pop, who has been such an encouraging fan of my show, so I will try to make it a really really good set.

Make sure to tune in! 10am–12pm CDT on WHPK.ORG/STREAM or WHPK 88.5fm CHICAGO.

LAST WEEK: one happy island with very truly yours

One Happy Island with Very Truly Yours and dancing by The Revelettes at the Darkoom (March 15, 2009)


Sorry this is such a belated post—part of having a college radio show happens to mean that I am in college and as such, I have been battling theses projects and finals. But now I am having a little break in sunny Puerto Morelos, Mexico, where I can sit by the ocean sipping white wine and finally start thinking about pop music again. (That happens to mean listening to the new Cats on Fire and Camera Obscura albums on repeat!)

First on the list, last week Sunday I had the delightful privilege to see One Happy Island with Very Truly Yours in the very last show hosted in Chicago by my friends Colour Me Pop! I will be sad to see them go, but I do think they had a lovely send-off for their voyage to London.

One Happy Island is a four-piece from Boston who has released two EPs on WeePOP! Records. They play in a classically DIY way that reminds me of a Bunnygrunt who I actually enjoy listening to. Their songs have wit and charm, great instrumentation (theremin included!) and best of all, a ton of ukulele (in which I, too, have been know to dabble). I spent a few weeks listening to “Earth’s Circumference” on repeat in my car, and probably even longer with “Anita” and “Temporary Tattoo,” which the band calls “their hit.” It’s easy to see how this band has been making the pop circuits all throughout the country for the last couple of years. They put on a show that was full of energy and incredibly engaging. I am excited to see where they go now that they seem to have picked up steam! (And Rebecca told me that they’re getting ready to put out a full-length!)

Since the past two entries have championed the wonderful Chicago locals Very Truly Yours, I will just say that they put on an even better performance than last time. I am so glad to have such a fantastic local pop band and everyone should go and catch them next time around. They’re even making their way to Boston to open for One Happy Island and The Tartans. And, although this will be the subject of the next post, NEW YORK CITY POPFEST!

Oh, and did I mention there was go-go dancing?? Chicago go-go troupe The Revelettes showed us their moves (admittedly to some strange choices, i.e. “These Boots are Made for Walking”). Although they were slotted for right after Very Truly Yours, that didn’t stop them from dancing into One Happy Island’s set, with hula-hoops and all!

I promise to be a bit better with my entries from now on, too!

LAST NIGHT: the pains of being pure at heart with very truly yours

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart with the Depreciation Guild and Very Truly Yours at Schuba's, Chicago, IL (February 11, 2009)
(sorry for the iPhone photos)

It’s always sad when you look forward to seeing a band for months—keeping their album on repeat, watching their videos, blogging compulsively—but then, it’s over, just like that.

Of course I’m referring to last night’s magnificent show, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Surely anyone reading this blog has heard of the Pains by now from somewhere or another, and it was no question that they were the favorites of 2008. (Both in AND out of this tiny pop circle!) But a year and a half (really!) of hype later, I was finally able to confirm first hand that this band really is great.

Sure, I love fuzzed-out pop music, and this was certainly the year of its return, but something about the way the Pains do it is so inviting, warm, and fun. Opening with “Doing All the Things That Wouldn’t Make Your Parents Proud,” (dedicated to Kip’s family in the audience), I was reminded of first hearing this song back in July of 2007, and of being so impressed by the beautiful melodies, subtle wit, and that fantastic sound! I had so much fun swaying and singing along that I hardly could believe that “two songs left” really meant the Pains were down to their final few songs (in all their repertoire, that is). There wasn't a dull moment to their set, but that just speaks to the fact that they really haven’t released a bad song after a full-length, two (kinda) EPs and three wonderful 7-inches, but I was especially glad to hear “Everything With You” and “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan.” Closing with the aptly titled “The Pains of Being Pure at Heart,” it was nice to hear “we will never die,” chanted during their final moments on stage. The band was confident, smiling, and enthusiastic, and I couldn’t have asked for a better performance. Twenty-eight minutes and no encore later, two months of waiting came to a beautiful end in a sold-out Schuba's show, just like that.

I don’t have nearly as many favorable words to say about the Depreciation Guild. I found their set to be a little tedious. Their A/V component looked like an Intro to Flash version of an Ad Reinhardt painting supplemented by some strobe lights. Their music falls somewhere along the lines of a Nintendo-spiked My Bloody Valentine, without the subtlety or sonic swells. Their album is decent (and free on their site), but it’s not the kind of thing that really gets me going.

Very Truly Yours (who I blogged about yesterday), were absolutely charming and were a perfect opener to the evening. They reminded me that pop doesn’t always have to be perfect to be fun. Certain songs seemed better live—“1 2 3 4” and their closer, “Popsong ‘91” (both off of their Cloudberry EP) seemed more refined and a bit more sophisticated than their other material. But I enjoy that one-off charm, so whatever. I am excited for this band to take Chicago by the pop-reins so they can play more shows. (They’ll be opening for One Happy Island in March!)

All in all, a most wonderful evening of pop music.