Last Minute: Illinois and Hallelujah the Hills at Great Scott Tonight!
Alright, I can stop screaming now about the Phillies becoming the World Series Champs. Voice is a little raspy but it was worth it.
To break my silence, I’m quickly posting about a show tonight at the Great Scott that I’m recommending you check out if you have nothing else better to do.
Illinois is a band from Doylestown, PA. You may be saying to yourself, “wait a minute, Kip’s just promoting these guys cause they’re from PA and are probably Phillies fans so I’m not going to listen to this recommendation.” Well, part of me does have a soft spot for PA based groups such as Brighblakck Morning Light, Dr. Dog, Black Moth Super Rainbow, The A-Sides, and must bands on Park The Van records. But that doesn’t mean these bands don’t have talent.
Illinois is a clydoscope of music. Sometimes you’ll get noise and sampled sounds along with a little banjo thrown in for good measure. Sometimes you’ll get soft pop rock. They remind me of Ween in this sense. It also helps that they grew up in a similar town as Ween. The Ween boys grew up in New Hope, PA, a town that’s very rural and like Doylestown, it has this All American, down home, farmer joe and in their own words, “…where little league children still ride their bicycles in the street and the first girl you kissed is now your wife”, vibe to it.
The openers should be familiar to you, Hallelujah the Hills. We’ve featured them on the square often. Really enjoyed their debut LP, “Collective Psychosis Begone”. Caught them opening for Silver Jews a little while back at the Middle East Downstairs. They’re a tricky opening band because of their intensity. They really give it their all no matter if they’re playing for 5 minutes or 50 minutes. I say tricky because it can throw you off guard if you’re not ready. So prepare yourself accordingly if you plan to catch their opening set, which I recommend you do.
Download “Alone Again” (Illinios, courtesy of Ace Fu Records)
Download “Hallelujah the Hills” (HTH, courtesy of HTH)
Bonus Download: Prepare to Qualify EP (Free courtesy of HTH)
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Thank you. This show was so good.
Ah, yet another show that I missed. Too many times this year I new about great shows but couldn’t go. I wish I was still in college.