Kirstiecat | Blog

There are two local bands to Chicago that I love (besides Andrew Bird) that I don’t feel are getting enough recognition and the crowds they deserve. The fact is, I’d like to see talented people in the music community have more encouragement because the music these bands are putting out is amazing and I’d love for them to be able to continue to put out more.

TENKI

The first, Tenki, I saw last night for the fourth or fifth time. I was thrilled that they were playing another show so soon because I missed them when I chose to see Architecture in Helsinki a couple of weeks ago.

Tenki is made up of six men who play between them trumpets, drums, a bass, a Roland keyboard and a Moog, and two guitars. In small glimpses, they come off as a darker Beulah but their song overall is more intense and emotional yet contained. In other words, the songs are very focused even when there are some interesting guitar diversions that come off as almost atmospheric and there is an element of desperation. It’s hard for me to do them justice with mere words because they truly are an incredibly creative and talented group of guys. I saw them the first time about four years ago opening up for Dressy Bessy. At that point, I hadn’t even heard of them but I actually liked them better than Dressy Bessy, who I had two albums by. They put on an amazing live show as well-truly captivating.

Tenki has two full length albums out and I would recommend View of an Orbiting Man, which I find brilliant and which shows tremendous growth and progress as a band. I am also excited about the newest one, We’re not talking about the universe, are we? which hasn’t come out yet but they did play a few songs from it last night.

Download Sound Samples
Tenki’s Main Page

On a related note, they are also guys that have a great sense of humor. Last night, they let the audience know they are planning on opening up a new restaurant in Chicago, Tenki food, that will sell only marshmallows and popsicles. They covered up the leg of their Roland so it says Poland. They have good politics and link to a super funny page on their website: Tom Cruise is nuts

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The INTERIORS

You know when you meet someone at a party that you don’t know and they tell you about a band they are in and give you the name of the website and you think what are the chances that the band is going to be good, right? Well, we’ve seen the Interiors about three or four times now and each time, I forget how amazing they are. Very edgy but still rather melodic for a three piece band. The hooks and catchiness floors me. It’s very guitar driven but the bass and the drumming just works so well. Everything seems to fit together perfectly, much better than you might even imagine if you were to think of a perfect song arrangement.

Unfortunately, the Interiors only have out one ep, which is great (I just want more that’s all)

You can find songs from their EP, The Crooked Line here

I recommend the song “A Crooked Line”

Make friends with them on MySpace here (spread the love! Be an internet Street Team )

(now playing: Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have it So Much Better)

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 16th, 2005 at 11:34 am and is filed under music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.