Tom Lynch

Even though I pretty much hate The Black Crowes, Chicago's boozy, seventies-rock-and blues-inspired band The Dirty Rooks burrow themselves underneath your nails, along with the dirt and scum and filth of the city streets. And they're good. The group's self-titled record, self-released, doesn't fuck around--one song even starts with the sentiment, "I was born on the day my mama died." There's a lot of whiskey in that lyric. The slow, moody "Tell Me Something" should quiet even the rowdiest bar room. Even the acoustic-based "Little Queen"--with its subsequent blues-country harmonica--works nicely. Other than with Velcro Lewis and His 100 Proof Band, rock `n' roll hasn't been this drunk in a while.

The Dirty Rooks play May 29 at The Note, 1565 North Milwaukee, (773)489-0011, at 8pm. (2007-05-22)

Also by Tom Lynch

The Great Whale
Over the course of his career, Bill Callahan has, perhaps like no other, found the demon's heart inside the world's humanity. Ugliness, ambition and heartbreak--all in a day's work for the man behind Smog, a band that's released nearly a dozen records since 1990, almost all on Drag City
(2007-05-18)

Modest Mouse
Getting his start as the drummer for the Swirlies, New Yorker Pierce moved on to spearhead Mice Parade, which began as a strictly instrumental project that incorporated elements of rock, jazz, IDM and, at some moments, world music
(2007-05-15)

Tip of the Week
Jim Fairchild's first outing since his days in the late, great Grandaddy, All Smiles' "Ten Readings of a Warning," on Dangerbird Records, is, first and foremost, a pop record, simple and pure, never over-thought or complicated with blind ambition
(2007-05-15)

Tip of the Week
National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Jim Crace triumphantly returns with the brilliant "The Pesthouse," in which the author ejects American staples such as strip malls, big buildings, billboard advertising and more to create a vast wasteland
(2007-05-15)

Three Records
(2007-05-14)

Tip of the Week
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Another Trans-formation
(2007-04-24)

Tip of the Week
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Truth Be Told
(2007-04-17)

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