Friday 17
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
STRUTS With Kelly Hogan focusing on her jazz-pop combo the Wooden Leg and Nora O’Connor plugging her surprisingly assured country-folk debut album Til the Dawn (Bloodshot), Struts gigs have been less frequent this year. But the group, which also features guitarist Andy Hopkins, has reconvened for the holidays, and their brand of dance-party R & B and quirkily arranged covers–like AC/DC songs done up Stax-style–should be a welcome treat. 10 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, $7 suggested donation. –Bob Mehr
Saturday 18
PARTS & LABOR Maybe you’re at the point where hearing even one more shimmering art-rock band will push you over the edge and make you chuck your favoritest Black Dice CD. But rest assured: even though the New York trio Parts & Labor uses a swarm of dreamy, gnarly guitar textures, its music is different from anything you’ve heard before. The jackrabbit drums sound like they’re humping the electric-can-opener bass, which growls and wobbles like it’s strung as loose as a hammock; sometimes the onslaught of the rhythm section stops for a moment, yielding to broken-glass guitar that glitters like light hitting an ocean wave. This is a show for people who prefer their crust thick, without a lot of cheese. Pterodactyl and NineteenEightyThousand open. 10 PM, Camp Gay, $5 suggested donation. For directions to the show, e-mail info@camp-gay.org. –Liz Armstrong
PERFECT PANTHER, THE NARRATOR Perfect Panther is a local trio of some promise–they certainly have a way with waves of pealing, chiming guitars and the lightly lugubrious violin line. The Narrator’s EP Youth City Fire (Flameshovel) lulls you into letting your guard down with jagged no-wave noise before it wallops you with a drive-by fusillade of pop–a nice inversion of the usual cliche. Tim Kinsella’s latest band, the Make Believe, headlines. 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, 773-276-3600. Free. –Monica Kendrick
BLUE MEANIES These reuniting neo-ska “legends,” who broke up in 2001, aren’t has-beens so much as might-have-beens, and as a reminder of their potential Thick Records is reissuing their 1997 album Full Throttle in February with additional tracks. It’s a lively and diverse album that’s held up very well, but that’s not surprising–they sounded like they were plucked out of time in the first place. Cougars open; the Tossers play second. See also Thursday. 9 PM, Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee, 773-489-3160 or 312-559-1212, $15. –Monica Kendrick
