This Saturday in beautiful downtown Chicago as the annual Taste of Chicago is going on, which features the Midwestern power pop legends Cheap Trick, Cal's will host a summer extravaganza not to be missed. If your legs are nimble enough, you haven't dumped too much warm Old Style into your sun burnt face and you survive the embarrassing incident with the turkey leg you got from Helen's booth, you just might get to catch both. You should get there early too, because if you miss the corny brilliance of Johnny & The Limelites your friends will never forgive you. Not only are these guys (and gal) bringing back ruffled tuxedo shirts and hoola-hoops, they're blasting an infectiously fun version of what is become known as "vacation rock." The dirty bubbles of the Chicago act Bold Ones picks up on the same benevolence-through-booze vibe as Johnny and the Limelights, but do so with more of a sneer and less restrictive clothing.
TV Ghost from Lafayette, Indiana are easily the oddest, most agonizing act of the evening. Their sound picks off the temporal lobe with a whirling keyboard that sounds like a nightmare involving a circus and missed anxiety medication. Look out for their single coming soon on die Stasi records. Headlining the event are the excellent three-piece Milwaukee act, Plexi 3. With a sound that is contagious, fun and packed with the sort of melodies that causes onlookers to pour beer on themselves, dance like idiots, and profess their love to socially incompatible Ugnaughts with little consequence. Look out for a single on HoZac records late this summer, and you can pick-up their debut single on Dusty Medical records now, or buy it directly from them at the show.
Here's a video of the Bold Ones performing "Goin' Nowhere" on the WHPK Pure Hype radio show.
