Night Birds, AJJ and what's happening around town

Night Birds at Cobra Lounge last month

Well hello there. It's been a hot minute since we've had the ol' words to the screen here. Rest assured, your pals at Change the Rotation are still out there taking in the Chicago scene. Through an extended pause such as this, the Shows page soldiers on. Take a look and try to decide between the plethora of gorgeous music coming out the windows of this city land area any given week. This Friday you can catch a thrashy Halloween show at the Fallout with Texas Toast Chainsaw Massacre, UGLYBoNES, Death of Self, Wraith and Info Wars. Fitness plays Weezer's blue album Saturday at Cole's while Jollys play as the Cars and members of Sonny Falls and SQUID cover Big Star. New York punks Surfbort are in town Monday at the Empty Bottle with Pink Frost and Hitter (members of Meat Wave and Lil Tits). Meanwhile, actual Halloween night next Wednesday has a killer lineup at Thalia Hall with Shannon and the Clams, Nobunny, Escape-ism and Dirty Fences.

I'll mention a couple shows I've been to since my last post. Night Birds stopped by Cobra Lounge last month in support of their new album, Roll Credits. Actually, it's a mini-album. Eight songs, less than 20 minutes. The album was released on 12" vinyl and as a pack of 7-inches, which means there is separate artwork for every song. It's a whimsical decision that plays right to the heart of a record collector like myself. None of that would be as special if the music didn't stack up but of course it does. The songs (and the cover art) strikes the B-movie surf soundtrack Night Birds has been perfecting with each release. Guitarist Mike Hunchback is back in the band, so they performed as a five-piece at Cobra Lounge. Watching Night Birds perform these surf punk blasts with their unrelenting urgency is pure joy. Don't miss them next time they're in town. Stream Roll Credits here.

AJJ at Thalia Hall on October 9

Old favorties AJJ came through with a crazy stacked lineup including Kimya Dawson, Laura Stevenson and Shellshag. I've been going to see AJJ for around eight years, I would estimate. We've written about them many times on this blog, from their changes in style over the years to their classic album, People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World. The set this time around was mainly from the Can't Maintain era onward, with a couple tracks from People sprinkled in. The band has changed quite a bit over the years but they continue to write interesting music and put on entertaining shows. The build up of "Small Red Boy" from The Bible 2 was one of the highlights of the night. AJJ recently released Ugly Spiral: Lost Works 2012-2016, which compiles demos, alternate takes and some songs that were previously only available on vinyl. Stream it here.