It's a gorgeous‚ hot summer day in the Windy City and the tastemaking Pitchfork folks are kicking off their 6th festival today. The media juggernaut has assembled a fierce lineup this year that is anchored by such heavyweights as LCD Soundsystem‚ Raekwon‚ Broken Social Scene and Modest Mouse. However‚ the most buzz and the biggest crowds should be surrounding the temporarily-reunited Pavement when they close out the fest Sunday night.
Of course I'm excited to see all of the scene veterans this weekend‚ but the Pitchfork Festival has always been about the break-out bands for me. Last year I was writing about the likes of Japandroids‚ The Very Best and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Here are some of the relative unknowns that I think are going to have a big weekend at Pitchfork:
The Smith Westerns
These Chicago natives are super young--read: none of them are of drinking age yet. But‚ they've got chops and hooks beyond their years. Think sixties garage-pop doo-wop and all the reasons you like The Black Lips. Check them out here on local access TV show "Chica-go-go." Stick around for the end when they all get down to "Superstition" to close out the show.
Real Estate
For me‚ Real Estate are the band of the summer--one of my favorite new bands of the past year. Their self-titled debut full-length is a an epic suite of jangly‚ hazy beach rock. Grab a copy of this‚ make yourself a jug of sangria and sit out back in a kiddie pool. There‚ that's your summer.
Sleigh Bells
Sleigh Bells are another of those super divisive buzz bands. Being made up of basically a guitarist‚ a singer and a sampler puts off a lot of folks. Get past that and actually listen to them and you get air-raid guitars from former hardcore journeyman Derek Miller‚ psycho cheerleader lyrics from former girl-group star Alexis Krauss and blown-speaker beats that sound like something MIA and/or Diplo dreamed up.
Delorean
Hailing from Barcelona‚ Delorean trade in a sunny‚ 80's influenced synth-pop that their name implies. Their new album Subiza is another candidate for album of the summer. After napping in the backyard with Real Estate and your sangria‚ make more sangria‚ put this on and go hit the club.
I'll be at Pitchfork taking it all in this weekend. Check back here next week for my full report.
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