Local Loft

Local Loft Episode 343

"When summer's gone...where will we be?" (The Doors-Summer's Almost Gone-1968)
Given the very active Chicago area's original music scene, from four outdoor Punk Rock Tacos shows, to a confused locating and relocating of the overhyped Riot Fest, the Fall that follows will be just as unpredictable.  Keep up with all the changes and new artists on the scene with Local Loft.
When you least expect it, Colleen Wild & The Haunted burst onto the original Chicagoland music scene with a powerful, intimate singing style and a tight melodic hard rock sound.  They rocked and won over a packed crowd during the Sunset Stroll Bike Ride and live music event at the Kankakee Farmer's Market in the heart of downtown K3. With serious lyric images of parents abandoning their children, and the anticipation of salvation, they were on top of their music game. I talk with Colleen & the Haunted after their stellar gig, which mixed tunes from their debut EP, Nest, with rare acoustic renditions of songs from the soon to be released second follow up album.
The following Midnight Calls show for the last weekend of August will be brought to you in Living Colour. The raunchy hard rock meets blues rock band fronted by fiery singer Taran De Pablos will open for the smash late 80's hard rock band known for their radio hits Cult Of Personality & Glamour Boys, Saturday At The Forge in Joliet. I have a new flowery single, which channel Midnight Calls inner AC/DC.
What passes for Country music nowadays is very vague (Luke Bryan & Florida Geogia Line are the biggest imposters) Righteous Hillbillies may look Country, they don't play like it, which the four man Joliet band fronted by Brent James, certainly proved at Hopstring Fest, eight years ago this week at Silver Cross Field in their hometown. We rock Back to it. 
An original Chicagoland metal, punk, alternative rock, & power pop soundtrack intense enough to act as a sonic spray which eradicates all cicada & cicada mites (and their gnarly rash skin bumps) when cranked loud includes:
Colleen Wild & The Haunted-Haunted
Colleen Wild-In The Crowd (live acoustic performance at The Kankakee Farmer's Market-8/23/24)
Mothpoint-Bloodsucker
Vang!-Let's Ride
TOFTS-Chicago Vampires
The Handcuffs-Dancing With The Dandies
Witchammer-Watch The World Burn
The Midnight Calls-Coming Up Roses
Skinwalker-Preacher With A Flare Gun
Righteous Hillbillies (interview from Hopstring Fest at Silver Cross Field, Joliet Local Loft Episode 35 8/20/16)
Righteous Hillbillies-Call Me A Doctor
Righteous Hillbillies-Throwing Stones
 

Local Loft Episode 342

WHOA!.... give me a second to catch my breath.
It has been a very active Summer of 2024 in the Chicago area's original metal, punk, alternative rock and power pop scene...and it's far from over.
From three jam packed outdoor Punk Rock Tacos in Villa Park. Shaper commanding a lead spot, even over Zion, Illinois rock veterans, Local H, at Kankakee's Merchant Street Music Fest. The surprising announcement of Redneck Remedy's return in September, bringing back the Southern Fried Metal they invented. And Vaudevileins Illuminating the stage with their powerful new fifth album, Lights Out, with their late April release show in Lockport. We can now add a special homecoming show for Joliet Doom Metal powerhouse band Black Road.
Even the threat of drenching rains and aggressive wind and thunderstorms couldn't stop them from casting another dark, bewitching spell over the crowd at The Drunken Donut. I caught up with charismatic singer Suzi Uzi, guitarist extraordinaire Tim Moreno, and the band's new explosive rhythm section. Bassist Trey Wedgeworth & drummer Danny Garcia, who have put future plans of their own Doom Metal act, Faces Of The Bog on hold, as they help Black Road continue their gothic journey toward a follow up thire album, to Witch Of The Future, first released on Halloween 2019. I talk with all four outdoors in the back yard of Drunken donut.
Kankakee won't stop the music fests with its annual summer gathering in Harold & Jean Miner Square. Right at the official beginning of Fall is Estival Festival. Along with the surprise return of Redneck Remedy, eclectic Alternative Rockers Carrying Torches are back for an Estival Encore. Newcomers Colleen Wild & The Hunted are shooting for becoming the next big rock act in the K3 River Valley.
First with The Boyzz (From Illinois) then trying to be the rocking buzz of the 80s hair metal scene with The B'zz. Now reinventing his biker band rock late 70's Boyzz era with his trio Tafoya. Michael Tafoya is a journeyman guitarist with a legendary resume. He joined us on The Kat 105.5's local music showcase hour Homegrown Tones, fourteen years ago this week. We rock back to it.
Now that we're not winded anymore from over rocking at the onslaught of Chicago area original rock shows, breathe in this original Chicagoland music soundtrack:
Black Road-Never Enough (live from The Drunken Donut, Joliet 8/15/24)
Black Road-Witch Of The Future (live at The Drunken Donut, Joliet 8/15/24)
Faces Of The Bog-Weight
Zero Nada-Light Me Up
BlockChain Coalition-The Road
Gamma Goat-Get in The Trough
Carrying Torches-All For Nothing
Colleen Wild & The Haunted-Savior
Vaudevileins-Erase The Truth
Michael Tafoya (interview in The Kat 105.5 studio 8/19/10)
Tafoya's Lost Boyzz-Over Now
Tafoya's Lost Boyzz-Long Time Ago
Tafoya's Lost Boyzz-Life

Local Loft Episode 341

The sizzle ain't over yet!
Not just the sizzle of August Summer Dog Days heat...The Sizzle of that heated combination of Original Chicago Punk Rock and ground beef with hard shells and tortillas.
The third outdoor edition of Tacos has music diversity all over its music menu. Sure there was punk in different varieties, especially Horace Pinker. This veteran Chicago 4-man band first unlaeshed their melodic Punk Pop during the peak of Grunge, 1994, when Power Tools, their debut album was released. I talk to original drummer Bill Ramsey, singer/guitarist Scott Eastman & bassist Bryan Jones, after they spanned three decades worth of thier music at Cemitas Poblanas in Villa Park.
13-Monsters tore it up on the Punk Rock Tacos stage and made believers out a mostly hardcore and pop punk loving crowd. Co-founders Deb Sonzo and Jaime Rianni brought along Good Vibrations with the use of a familiar electronic instrument with paved the way for all types of synthesizers. 
 From the smell of fried taco ground beef to the ear lobe exploding sound of Southern Fried Metal, the Kankakee band who invented the latter will have you two stepping with a vicious head bang. Redneck Remedy is back at the Kankakee late summer event that put the Estival back in Festival. You'll be Goin' Back To Whiskey with Fierce singer Joh David Daily and the original lineup when there's no going back to the sizzle of Summer. I've got the where and when.
With no chance to grab a can of hairspray or an Aqua net, you'll be headed back to the era of Hair Metal. Award winning Chicago hard rockers Down N Dirty weren't just a retro throwback. Their sound and image went in a more radical bluesy hard rock direction after they descended upon The Kat 105.5 studio thirteen years ago this week. We'll rock back to it.
Take a auditory bite into it. It's what you the true fan of original Chicago Punk, Metal, Alternative Rock and Power pop crave. Another scrumptious soundtrack from:
!3-Monsters-Hang Around (live from Punk Rock Tacos 52, 8/10/24 Cemitas Poblanas, Villa Park) 
13-Monsters-The Bessemer Process (Live From Cairo Bar 2016)
Horace Pinker-Punker Than G.B.H.
Horace Pinker-Lost (Live from Punk Rock Tacos 52, Cemitas Poblanas, Villa Park-8/10/24)
Rad Payoff-Series Of Excuses
Redneck Remedy-When It Rains It Pours
Black Road-Radiation
Wolf Rd.-The Ides Of March
Bullet To The Heart-Fawn
Down N Dirty (Interview In The Kat 105.5 Studio-8/11/11)
Down N Dirty-Taste Of Rock N Roll
Down N Dirty-Wild Child
Down N Dirty-Free & Young

Local Loft Episode 340

Are you punk, metal, alternative rock or power pop? Pick a genre and bring along a hearty music appetite. 
I've scared up another crunchy great time. The Chicago area music menu is loaded and ready to nourish your diverse music tastes. Svengoolie won't drop in for a guest appearance, but the city whose existence he laughably questions on every one of his Saturday night classic horror film retrospectives, will (everyone say sarcastically, BURR-WINN!)
Acton's Dictum got a hometown crowd pogoing toward the highest rafters, with a Saturday Night bash at their hometown bar, The Outtaspace in Berwyn. They didn't hold back on an irreverent old school Oi Punk style. I talk with singer/songwriter & guitarist Matt Durica, guitarist Paul Crowe, bassist Dave Leffel and Drummer Rich Richert. This gig was a nice brash warmup, for their outdoor stage tear up, Saturday, August 10th at the third outdoor Punk Rock Taco's show in Villa Park.
That will also feature the surreal presence of 13-Monsters. Flamboyant singer Deb Sonzo will entice a mosh heavy crowd into an intimate trance. Sounding somewhere between 60s psychedelic jam band and 90s hardcore punk grunge act is MMB, Mike Michilak Band, whose latest single takes us all on a blazing space ship trip around the galaxy. 
With a name like Endostalgia, there was bound to be a trippy lava lamp mental image involved. The Chicago band combines the pastoral tye dye t-shirt nature of the Woodstock era with the sloppy guitar distortion of 90s grunge. They laid this mixture on a crowd of old and young music lovers at Wire in Berwyn, five years ago this week. We rock back to it.
Crank this one ultra loud, and drown out the excessive decibel, ear lobe shattering sound of the hum of the diesel engine of the Metra BNSF trains. It's the Berwyn and all points north, west and east sound of original punk, metal, alternative rock and power pop from:
Acton's Dictum-Racist Neighbors
Acton's Dictum-Propaganda
Lost Dead-Love And Hate
MMB (Mike Michilak Band)-Starshine
13-Monsters-Never Let You Go (Live from Cairo Bar in West Chicago)
Backlash-Sleight Of Hand
Advorsa-Blood Moon
Endostaligia (interview from Wire in Berwyn 8/6/19 Local Loft Episode 109)
Endosatalgia-Sign
Endostalgia-Rumbush

Local Loft Episode 339

All along a original Chicagoland music odyssey...Local Loft pulls into Kankakee, with a return voyage to Punk Rock Tacos Central in Villa Park.
 
On what is a Shape-ing up to be another fulfilling journey of original Chicago area punk, metal, alternative rock & power pop, we first stop by the biggest summer festival in the Southlands. Merchant Street Music Fest brought Zion, Illinois biggest contribution to the mid 90s Grunge movement, Local H. All who saw the dynamic duo fronted by Scott Lucas, did certainly get it (the far from As Good As Dead sound that defined an era) and Scott kept the lyrics copacetic. Before Scott once again( as he first did 28 years ago) tried to get fans to like him better if he was Eddie Vedder, Alternative cosmic jam band Shaper mesmerized a packed audience on the Hill Stage with songs about the mentally paralyzing feeling of not getting a good night's sleep. I talk with singer/bassist Justin Williams and the other three who brought a live concert atmosphere, with no audience, to their full-length debut album, Live At Third City Sound.
After a 24-hour Saturday breather, I head Northwest to the second outdoor Punk Rock Tacos in Villa Park. The surroundings once again got crunchy and punchy. No fights broke out, but fists were raised high in the air as veteran blue collar Chicago punk trio Squared Off united a mass crowd with their songs supporting the weary working man and his quest for government and corporate respect for a job well done. Tony Michelles, Ryan Levitt, and Jose "Hoser" Villareal join me after their adrenalin rush set to talk about their support for the working man and their contribution to the local charity Punk Rock Saves Lives. Also, S.I.T.B. (Steve's In The Band) relive their beginning as the first Chicago band to ever play Punk Rock Tacos. 
44 years ago, in July 1980, when Chicagofest was the premiere Summer festival in the city by the lake, M & R Rush sang of their support for the working man and pride for Chi-town. After The Loop FM 98 gave them a lot of airplay, the band  got a new life on The Kat 105.5 airwaves 13 years ago this week, with their first new album in three years, Alpha. Veteran guitarist & singer John Mc Farland and keyboardist. songwriter Carl Mosur joined me in The Kat studios, with new songs that go far beyond their longtime love for Rock N Roll Chicago. We rock back to it.
The original Chicago music soundtrack taking shape to rock all in cyberspace who hear it is:
Shaper-Task Paralysis
 Shaper-Perv Alert
 Local H-Bound For The Floor
  Shoes-Tomorrow Night
  Horace Pinker-Maybe Not Today
  S.I.T.B.- (Steve's In The Band) Ten
   Quantum-Punk Funk
 Squared Off-Agents Of Chaos
  Squared Off-Glory Days
   Acton's Dictum-Dollar Beers
   M & R Rush (John McFarland & Carl Mosur         interview in The Kat 105.5 studio-8/4/11)
    M & R Rush-Working To Pay The Man
     M & R Rush-Sometimes She Cries
     M & R Rush-A Different Breed Of Kat
     

Local Loft Episode 338

Here it is, a little earlier than usual, and by no means subject to incompetent, crude Microsoft update worldwide outages! Shit NO!
The awesome power of original Chicagoland punk, metal, alternative rock, progressive rock and power pop triumphs and blasts through any stinkin' data breach. Another crunchy and punch weekend is shaping up at the second Punk Rock Tacos outdoor show on Sunday, July 28th. Closing out the nine band sonic assault is Nightfreak. With deadly lyrics of a vigilant fight against cancer, and police and gang gun violence, they were once picked to be one of the first bands at the soon to be held grand reopening of the legendary Double Door. Singer and guitarist Steve Henderson joins me to look forward making a sea of punk and metal fans pogo their ass off at Cemitas Poblanas in Villa Park.
It's not nice to fool Mother Nature. It's also not nice for Mother Nature to screw with Illinois Rock N Roll History. Her stubborn self did just that with the microburst and psychotic tornado outbreak she unleashed on downtown Joliet last weekend.  Nearly taking out the facilities of the Illinois Rock N Roll Museum. But the damage news isn't as bleak as you would think.  And the museum and inductions will rock on. I've got the scoop. Also, Kankakee's Shaper will carve out a bit of future history. rocking the Hill Stage at Merchant Street Music Fest this Friday in their native land. And A.D.D. will grab your attention and never let it go, opening for forgotten 80s hair metal legends, L.A. Guns, Friday at The Forge in Joliet.
The ironically named A Silent Truth never kept silent about a change in singers. From the high-pitched vocal wail of Dan Hardman to the sophisticated grunt of John Williams (no, he didn't conduct the London Symphony Orchestra and score the Star Wars soundtrack). The switch happened at Reggie's Rock Club seven years ago this week. We rock back to it.
Crank it up and scare Mother Nature into an anger management class. The thunderous original Chicago area music soundtrack of:
Nightfreak-Toy Guns
Nightfreak-Death Breath
When We Was Kids-Big Bro
Shoes-Fatal
22 Down-For Crying Out Loud
Embers Rise-Hurricane
Dark Sun-Try To Pretend
Shaper-Just Fantastic
A.D.D.-Don't Say
A Silent Truth (interview from Reggie's Rock Club 7/19/17, aired on Local Loft Episode 63 7/22/17)
A Silent Truth-Chariot
A Silent Truth-Rayovac
 

Local Loft Episode 337

Crank it up ultra loud!.....and rock away an all-county psychotic tornado threat!
Shaking down the thunder from the sky is a seismic original soundtrack of Chicagoland punk, metal, alternative rock and power pop. 
A bit of truth or dare is involved in this 337th edition. Bassist Steve Grossman, fueled by a night of binge drinking, learned quickly how to play bass, leading to his immediate inclusion in SITB (Steve's In The Band) Alcohol consumption was both a high and lowlight in the band's melodramatic storytelling lyrics. I talk to Steve, drummer Jim Holmen, and guitarist RT Zelm, as they undarefullly play at the second Punk Rock Tacos outdoor Summer show, Sunday, July 28th in Villa Park.
Odds are good The Party of No will say Yes to another interruption to another show of The Lunatic's Fringe. But the luck of the Irish (Rebel Bar & Grill) just might be with Mr. Fringe and his band mates this Saturday in Oak Lawn, I have a new wagering single from them.
With no (Bad or Good) Indication that a reunion of the original 1979 lineup of Off Broadway was ON again, Cliff Johnson Stayed In Time with his present day plans to rock on with The Raine, at the venue that became a home away from home, Fitzgeralds in Berwyn, eight years ago this week. We rock back to it, by overwhelming request.
Throw up the volume, and scare the tornadic lightning away with the jolting original Chicago area music soundtrack of:
SITB-Drank The Anchor
SITB-One More Beer
Squared Off-Lessons Never Learned
Brian Durbin-Bad Bad TV
Loveblast-Goodbye My Darling
The Lunatic's Fringe-Gamblin' Man
Spamicidal Jelly-Boomerang Papercut
Brookwood Drive-Spend The Night
Local H-President Forever
Cliff Johnson (interview from Fitzgeralds in Berwyn-7/9/16 Local Loft Episode 30 (aired 7/15/16)
Cliff Johnson-1-2-3 (unreleased 1986 demo, produced by Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick)
Off Broadway-U.S. Girls (original 1980 Quick Turns Atlantic Records vinyl LP pressing)
D'Thumbs-Battle Of The Bands (1978 demo) 
 
 

Local Loft Episode 336

Punk for breakfast (and don't hold the Tacos!)
This will more than satisfy your craving for original Chicago area Punk, Metal, Alternative rock and Power Pop. I hope you're over hungry.
Punk Rock Tacos is a modern-day Woodstock and Lollapalooza, without the excessively high corporate involvement and politics or government inflation. If you missed the first humungous outdoor bash, Saturday, July 6th at Cemitas Poblanas in Villa Park, there are three more July 26th, and August 10th & 31st. I absolutely breathed in the first and will give you the in your face descriptions, from the head butting mosh pits to last mind indelible guitar notes.
There were surprise reunions, touching down like an unexpected UFO ( not the veteran British hard rock Band) sightings. Hotlips Messiah reunited with charismatic singer Traci Trouble. The Horrids rocked away the supposed hatred of PRT creator Noah Corona. The Dennies proved that the youngest band could unite the masses old and young. In the middle of it all, Dead Living, a Chicago garage punk trio, became the next band to get their music showcased on the Punk Rock Tacos record label. I talked with singer/guitarist Ramon, bassist E.T. (who didn't ditch the taco menu for a Resse's Pieces dinner & a chance to phone home) and drummer Mike about their third self-titled EP, released digitally on July 5th.
But wait, there's more! Space Age Zeros take off from their home launch pad of Channahon (near Joliet) with an explosive new single, that Katy Perry can't out rock (it's not a cover). Local H will keep it copacetic (and not totally lyric rhyming) at Kankakee's ginormous live rock extravaganza, Merchant Street Music Fest. And if Punk Rock is a nourishing appetizer with tacos, how about a dessert of punk and pancakes, this weekend in Berwyn. I've got the where and when details.
Even Mr. Spock will agree, mental illness is not a logical way of life. Five years ago this week, the Chicago hardcore goth metal band The Illogical tackled the scary life condition with a live set that had everyone at Wire in Berwyn whipped up into a manic frenzy. We rock back to it.
Over the brain tissue and through auditory ear nerves, Look out subconscious, this original Chicagoland music menu will fill you up:
Dead Living-Got To Go
Dead Living-Everyday
The Last Great Riot-There's A Beer In The Fridge if You Want To Make It Worse
Hotlips Messiah-What!
Space Age Zeros-Fireworks
Coyote Man-Reaches Of The Universe (from Mainstage Live)
The bad Examples-Sammy The Dog Has Learned To Play Trombone (Cheap Beer Night live version 1991)
Local H- Fritz's Corner
Fire Cat!- How Punk Rock Saved My Life
Pink Hotel-The Drinking Song
The Illogical (interview from Wire in Berwyn-7/12/19)
The Illogical-Serpent Charmer
The Illogical-DMV

Local Loft Episode 335

You have the freedom to munch & mosh!
The big bang for many of you won't totally come on the 4th of July. Two days after, Chicago area original Punk Rock bands will generate explosive energy on the outdoor stage of Punk Rock Tacos 50. This new edition of Local Loft will mostly focus on the ones who will provide the explosive spark. The sound will be just as decibel heavy as the bomb like blast of a mortar skyrocket or dynamite-like ear splitting M 80.
Hotlips Messiah will ignite the fuse on a fiery surprise reunion, at Cemitas Poblanas in Villa Park. The veteran space punk band from southwest suburban Lyons will have a Troublesome reunion, as their precocious lead singer Traci Trouble (yes, the same singer/bassist of the recently disbanded post punk trio, Aweful) rejoins the band she first became discovered in. Rich (Dolejis) Bastard, Hotlips Messiah's founder, guitarist and keyboardist joins me with news of Traci's one-off return.
Veteran Roseland rockers M & R Rush reveal a new eye & ear opening single and accompanying music video. Open your Hungry Eyes and Have The Time Of Your Life like it was the first time you never felt this way before, when you fell in love, feasting your eyes on your first significant other (yes, there's a big 80s movie tie in name checked indirectly in the video).
A not so young rejuvenating birthday bash for Vaudeviliens singer Jeff Julian in Kankakee, where all the metal grunting in the world couldn't rejuvenate The Kat 105.5. A week before the station ran out of radio lives, we welcomed hardcore metal trio Bleed For The Fallen for one last mosh over the terrestrial airwaves ten years ago this week. We rock back to our very last local music radio showcase.
There's a packed and loaded set of original Chicago area metal, punk, alternative rock and power pop waiting for you to rock to it at full blast. By cranking up this podcast, you light the rock and roll fuse & feel the recoil of:
Hotlips Messiah-Radiation Makes Things Special
Hotlips Messiah-Computer Virus
AWEFUL-Bad Things
M & R Rush-First Time I Saw Her
Beeso And Friends-Outta My Brain
Terminus Victor-This Isn't Real
Vaudeviliens-Wasted Talent
The Last Great Riot (John Beavers interview)
The Last Great Riot-Fluid Ounces (Not Half Full, Not Half Empty, Just Time To Order Another)
The Last Great Riot-Immortal 30
Dead Living-Sleep Paralysis
Bleed For The Fallen (Mike Bass interview on The Kat 105.5, Homegrown Tones final show-7/3/14)
Bleed For The Fallen-Chapter 13 
Bleed For The Fallen-Down
 
 

Local Loft Episode 334

You still have time to swoon in June!
There's a lot to admire amongst the soundtrack of original Chicago area punk, metal, alternative rock and power pop.  It's what you crave. You'll be savoring it, much like you do a scrumptious taco dinner.
Satisfying your Chicago music appetite as the manin course is Dethwarrant. This four-man South Side Chicago band isn't your typical politics a plenty and rage of only anarchy punk band. They rant and pogo dance over everyday life situations like which 1980s Predator movie is better, and how deliciously good their own grandma's cookie baking is. Dethwarrant provides the appropriate lunch and dinner soundtrack at Punk Rock Tacos 50, July 6th, outdoors at Cemitas Poblanas in Villa Park. Dethwarrant singer Darren joins me to get you psyched to rock off that calorie packing meal of ground beef and tortillas by moshing it off with them.
Going to cool extremes that don't involve excessive use of air conditioning, Goth Rock princess Audrey Queen, singer for fantasy melodic hard rock band Bullet To The Heart chills out with a squeaky-clean winter blast that won't completely wash away the extreme summer heat and humidity. The band's new music video has Audrey in heated battle with a snow queen. I have the music soundtrack that they'll play during the release show for their upcoming fourth album, Trauma, at Rockhouse in Dundee, August 17th.
They couldn't totally slingshot the image of good and bad U.S. Presidents out of their direct, highly political lyrics. Joliet trio Catapult The Propaganda combined vitriolic lyrics and a hard driving funky rock groove. Two out of the three, singer/guitarist Robert Bloodworth and drummer Skip Maskeri joined me in The Kat 105.5 studio ten years ago this week. We rock back to it.
Like a catapulting boomerang, this original Chicago area music mix, comes back to cyberspace with an ever changing lineup. This time around, it's: 
Dethwarrant-Spliff Happens
Dethwarrant-Wolfman Jr.
The Last Great Riot-Fluid Ounces (Not Half Empty, Not Half Full, Just Time To Order Another)
Bullet To The Heart-Freeze
Mirage Gods-Atmosphere
Seldom Told-Indivisible
Violet Kill-Until The End
Huntsmen-In Time All Things
Shrineburner- The Burden
Catapult The Propaganda (Robert Bloodworth and Skip Maskeri interview in The Kat 105.5 studio-6/23/14)
Catapult The Propaganda-Marked
Catapult The Propaganda-Convenient Crisis