Drawing inspiration from the usual alt-country suspects (Wilco, Tom Petty, Neil Young), Bloomington, Illinois’ Backyard Tire Fire is not a band prone to venturing into the unknown. Their last record, “The Places We Lived,” rehashes a lot of common bar-rock themes, with the third track summing it up best: “Everybody’s depressed, everybody’s down/everybody’s on drugs in this damn town.” Not only have I heard this song before, I think I’ve heard it over a hundred times already. Thing is, I still have a fondness for that song, and that brand of grimy alt-country, especially since this power trio unleashes it with a certain sincerity in its performance. Lead singer Ed Anderson could pass for Tom Petty (minus the ingestion of 15,000 packs of cigarettes), and production-wise, it sounds as though they recorded in a living room in sucky Bloomington rather than a slick studio in sunny California, lending credence and honesty to a band that is clearly trying to appeal to those who appreciate the solemn, dive-bar loner type with clumsy power chords and themes that amount to “shit, am I in jail again?” (Andy Seifert)
April 18 at Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee, (773)489-3160, 8pm. $12.
Cooling It: A Preview of Colleen Green at Cole’s Bar When Green strums power chords or chiming notes on top of her backing track, you might think you’re at Ramones karaoke night and Madonna is taking her turn.
Brutal Finesse: A Preview of King Crimson at Ravinia There have been few new compositions from King Crimson these past two decades, but the live arrangements of songs from its catalog are often strikingly different than the recorded versions.
