Chicago’s own Baby Teeth has guts. Playing goofy bar-rock/pop won’t put them on the fast track to success (unless they hire the publicist for The Darkness), and it’ll probably earn a few dirty looks from elitists, but this trio still has the balls to play some sort of “prog meets soul meets the cheesy instruments from the 1980s” concoction, and while that sounds like a complete, utterly embarrassing disaster, it’s actually a shitload of fun, as evidenced by the band’s newest, “Hustle Beach.” From opening track “Big School,” a song about going to a frat party at a mega-university (featuring synth-work straight out of Van Halen’s “Jump”) to the Booker T and McGs-esque funky electric organ solo on “The Part You Play,” Baby Teeth sounds unabashedly cocky with its musical direction. I can’t say whether Baby Teeth started as a joke or not (I imagine the band’s origins involve Elton John and massive amounts of alcohol), but it’s pretty evident that the band is having too much of a blast to care at this point. (Andy Seifert) August 1 at Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, (773)525-2508, at 10pm. $10.
Last Punks Standing: A Preview of Mekons at Hideout Mekons have endured by refusing to adhere to anyone's ideas regarding what is and isn't punk rock (which is in and of itself a defiantly punk attitude).
Still Breathtaking: A Preview of Sting at Ravinia Festival Sting's solo catalog boasts more than a dozen studio albums. He may not rack up the hit singles like he once did, but he remains a compelling writer, musician and performer.
