Tom Lynch

Correction: Cougar is not playing in Chicago this week. Cougars are. Cougars are a Chicago-based indie rock band and feature a vocalist. Cougar will be in Chicago on January 25 at the Empty Bottle. Newcity regrets the error, and recommends you see them both.

Self-described as "emergency rock," Madison, Wisconsin's softly spectacular Cougar, elegant yet raw, blends a post-rock foundation with angular, swift guitar-work, electronic elements and an overwhelming presence of improvisation. Recorded by Tortoise's John McEntire, "Law" (Layered Music), the band's debut record, is striking in its complexity and warm in its hushed tones and stone confidence, shifting from passion to passion as each bar of music passes. Vast in ambience, pulsing with D.H. Skogen's drums, the five-piece includes organic sounds--a metal pot, found-percussion--as it transitions seamlessly between acoustic and electric guitar. The instrumental world created--a soundscape of epic discovery, a sentimental move from the past to the future, from a life of doubt to one of wondrous invention--sweeps through the ears and mind with delight and clarity. Unlike much of what we hear these days, there's an actual craft here. Every piece of song, every note played, is artwork, beautiful and ugly all the same.

See correction above. Cougars play December 16 at Double Door, 1572 North Milwaukee, (773)489-3160, at 9pm. $10. They are not the band written about above. That band, Cougar, plays Empty Bottle on January 25 (2006-12-12)

Also by Tom Lynch

Soundcheck
Singer and songwriter Joel Gibb and his Hidden Cameras made their mark with previous records "The Smell of Our Own" and "Mississuaga Goddam," two albums of flavorful, lovable perversity that include tales of urination, explicit sex and enemas
(2006-12-05)

Ms. Maverick
Laura Kipnis makes some people very, very uncomfortable. It started in 2003 with her breakthrough book, "Against Love: A Polemic," a raging, funny and daring work that aims to dismiss the current institution of love--note, not necessarily the idea of love--and its relation to marriage, and more specifically, monogamy
(2006-12-05)

Evan Dando Lives
Even when it's over, it's never really over. We'll always have reunions. Now, Evan Dando's The Lemonheads
(2006-12-05)

Tip of the Week
Drawn & Quarterly presents a great night of graphic novelists discussing their work: Gabrielle Bell, Anders Nilsen and Kevin Huizenga
(2006-12-05)

Soundcheck
(2006-11-28)

Tip of the Week
(2006-11-28)

Tip of the Week
(2006-11-28)

Tip of the Week
(2006-11-20)

Tip of the Week
(2006-11-20)

The Drinking Life
(2006-11-14)

For Heavens Sake
(2006-11-14)

Tip of the Week
(2006-11-14)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment