Reverend of rockabilly heats up Metro show with Southern Sleaze

By Mara Stankiewicz / May 18, 2004

From a band whose album Liquor in the Front is subtitled “Poker in the Back” and whose finest lyrics include, “I got a wiggle stick, momma, and you’ll like it a lot,” one might expect a riotous performance onstage. After all, one doesn’t go to a rockabilly revival show without expecting several kitschy moments and...

Local H search for P.J. Soles, find selves in process

By Mara Stankiewicz / April 20, 2004

Any horror movie guru can certainly tell you about P.J. Soles. Carrie didn’t turn prom into a massacre for no reason—P.J. Soles’s vicious character drove her to do it. Oh, and don’t forget her fine role as Jamie Lee Curtis’s best friend in Halloween. That was one to remember. In fact, it was almost as...

She don’t mean a thing if she ain’t got that swing

By Mara Stankiewicz / March 5, 2004

She screams. She whines. She whispers. She provocatively swings the hips of her voice, making lines like “I’ll take you out, boy” tease and thrill. At the Yeah Yeah Yeahs concert Tuesday night at the Metro, Karen O’s vibrato—full of sexual energy and excitement—translated even the crudest mutterings into delightfully chic ones. From animated, low-pitched...

The Poster Children: alterna-rock all grown up

By Mara Stankiewicz / February 20, 2004

Growing up with three brothers and no sisters was both a blessing and a curse. Fights almost always ended with them shaking my Barbie Dream House until my meticulously-arranged balcony foliage and furniture fell to the carpet in a plastic mess, and I ran like hell to my mother. The positive memories, however, outlast the...

Occam’s Razor: comedy with sharp edges

By Mara Stankiewicz / February 3, 2004

Being that a best college bud of mine is in Occam’s Razor, one of two improv groups on campus, I came to their most recent show with a bit of an ego. His presence gave me the confidence I needed to shout out all scene suggestions that came to mind. Worst of all, it gave...

The Bens: the ultimate test of shag, marry, or push off a cliff

By Mara Stankiewicz / January 13, 2004

What happens when a classically trained Southern piano player, a power-pop-playing Texan, and an acoustic guitar-toting Australian collaborate on an album? Approximately 15 minutes of pure listening enjoyment provided by none other than Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, and Ben Lee. Featuring only four songs, the EP may not last a car ride to the city,...

Margaret Cho picked for winter show

By Mara Stankiewicz / November 25, 2003

Margaret Cho, the Asian-American comedian best known for her routines about American ethnic diversity, will perform in Mandel Hall on January 10, the Major Activities Board (MAB) announced Monday. The show will feature material from her Revolution tour and will be followed immediately by a question-and-answer session. Cho started performing comedy at the age of...

Running a fever, Karen O can’t tell it like it is

By Mara Stankiewicz / November 25, 2003

On Sunday night at the Metro, Karen O was back in Chicago and ready to rock. Or was she? Yes, she was draped in more ghastly attire than usual, with eyeballs and feathers strewn all over her red tank top. And she did have a significantly smaller beer gut than the last time the Yeah...

Strokes: hot and bothered, but can’t seal the deal

By Mara Stankiewicz / October 23, 2003

The Strokes could build a successful musical career off of their hype alone. Before their first album, Is This It, was even released, rock critics everywhere referred to them as the new Rolling Stones. Then, immediately after the album hit the stores, everyone proclaimed them “the saviors of rock ‘n’ roll.” And now that their...

Manson converts one more poor soul at the Aragon

By Mara Stankiewicz / October 20, 2003

On Marilyn Manson’s latest release, The Golden Age of Grotesque, he sings, “But now I’m not an artist/I’m a fucking work of art.” Nobody can describe Manson quite like he can and has done on almost every CD and song he has released. He even elaborates on his reputation in Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine....

Two writers, the Riv, cryptic lyrics, and the tour that will never end

By Mara Stankiewicz / October 3, 2003

Yoshi: Every year in January, Voices writers and editors convene to name the top albums released in the previous year. We don’t compile a list democratically; instead, we allow each contributing writer to name his top five, or top 10, and state his case. This approach would seem to cover a greater variety of good...

Recent graduate found dead in apartment

By Mara Stankiewicz / August 21, 2003

Danny Morano, a recent graduate of the College, died Friday, August 8. His roommate found him at their apartment on 52nd Street and Drexel Avenue on Monday, August 11 after he returned to Chicago from a trip. The fire department arrived first, followed by the paramedics, police, and the medical examiner. The cause of death...

Voices’s guide for this wet, hot, American Friday

By Mara Stankiewicz / July 7, 2003

According to Michael Showalter, comedian/writer/everythingman, you should see Stella Comedy because, “It’s going to be so funny you’ll crap in your pants, which isn’t necessarily a good thing.” Aside from that, there are even more enticing reasons why you should the comedy show this Friday, July 11 at the Logan Square Auditorium at 10 pm....

New Phair album: File between Avril and Shit

By Mara Stankiewicz / June 26, 2003

Liz Phair Liz Phair Capitol Records June 24, 2003 Coming out with a self-titled album halfway into a musical career is usually a bad sign. It’s indicative of an artist’s attempt to change her public image or to return to her “roots.” These artists almost always opt for ditching the quirkiness that earned them a...

Alkaline Trio disappoints old and new fans alike

By Mara Stankiewicz / May 22, 2003

There are two kinds of Alkaline Trio fans: those who have been listening to the Chicago natives since the halcyon days of 1997’s Goddamnit and those who caught on after their last two albums, From Here to Infirmary and Good Mourning. At their sold out Riviera show on Thursday night, Alkaline Trio attempted to please...

Tegan and Sara are not lesbian lovers, are Canadian

By Mara Stankiewicz / April 28, 2003

Just because they’re from Canada doesn’t mean that Tegan and Sara don’t know how to rock. These Calgary natives, and twins, have recently released their second album If It Was You, the follow up to This Business of Art. While they’ve headlined tours throughout Canada and have a huge following there, they are just now...

Sex, booze and stupidity: spring break on the big screen

By Mara Stankiewicz / April 24, 2003

When the cast of The Real Cancun read Dr. Seuss’s Oh, The Places You’ll Go as children, they probably didn’t realize that the places they’d go would include a wet T-shirt contest or a hormonal beachfront house complete with communal showering and haphazard hooking up. Well, at least their parents didn’t realize it. The producers...