I know you are probably buried in snow and don’t want to dig your way out, but if you can make it down to Empty Bottle tonight you will be rewarded. They are featuring three bands that play various forms of indie rock. The Vindits learn more towards the punk aspects of things, Baron Von Something play something more traditional, and Deadlands (from what I can tell) play alt-country tinged rock. It is three facets coming together for one night. Let’s see if they can melt some of this snow!

Head on out to the Tonic Room on 2/10 to hear some ambient folk rock tunes from Brendan Losch, Nathan Xander and Buffalo Heart. This 21+ show gets started at 9pm and is $5. He will be performing tunes from his forthcoming release, Low.

Last week Indiana’s Joyful Noise label announced that they had officially signed the noise-punk basement rockers Prizzy Prizzy Please. I say officially because the label did release a split ep with PPP and Push-Pull last year, but now the band is legitimately with the label. Joyful Noise plans to release the bands sophomore and label debut, Chroma Cannon, this April. PPP got there start in Bloomington, Indiana, but now resides here in Chicago. The label is calling their sound melodic noise punk (reminiscent of Parts and Labor, Lightning Bolt), but when you listen to the first track from their new album, “Large Hadron Collider”, you find that this is more closely related to sign-along anthems of say Van Halen or AC/DC. It is a sound that is a combination of influences and hard to pin down, but once you find yourself singing along and thrashing about you won’t care what it sounds like anymore.

Prizzy Prizzy Please will be performing at Empty Bottle with Dr. Manhattan on March 4th.

With Shapers it seems to be the merging of sonic experimentation and music freedom that fascinates them. Their debut 12” Little, Big will be released on March 9th, and it finds the bands using texture and atmosphere to create a complex web of sound that is unpredictable and extremely enjoyable. A fairly new band, compromised of Zaid Maxwell, Steve Reidell, Amelia Styer, and Todd Waters, Shapers began performing live together just this past fall. However, they have spent the last twelve months locked away in a basement creating this richly creative sound. The result of all the time and effort is a sound that is primarily instrument and combines elements of ambient, psychedelic, dark electronica, and free jazz. With vocals are applied from time to time as in the track “Jar” they are quiet and almost blend into the instruments without putting up too much of a fight. Little, Big is challenging, beauty, intelligent, and filled with sonic surprises.

The first 250 available copies of Little, Big will be screen-printed by the band. You can preoder a copy at the band's website today. They will be playing a release show at The Hideout with Old Fake and Driftless Pony Club on March 11th at 9:00pm.

Lead by the sullen Stephen Howard, Quieting Syrup brought the brand of mope rock to the recording studio of Daytrotter recently and the four song set was released on Saturday. The bands latest album, Songs About A Sick Boy, was released latest year by Lovitt Records. The band played three tracks from the album including my favorite “Password to a Fort Full of Pills”, and an unreleased track called “Mary, My Wife”.