Tynan's Anger

No new post, but with Chicago rock 'n' roll in the news with Pitchfork and Lolla on the horizon, I thought it high time to republish a post from my old blog about one of the better local bands I encountered in Chicago*:

The Cathy Santonies: University of Chicago Riot Grrls
(November 6, 2007)

One of my friends at this school once remarked that his brother decided not to apply to the University of Chicago because of the write-up we got in Rolling Stone's Guide to Colleges that Rock. Apparently, our campus is so classical-based that its pathetic rock offerings are taking away potential applicants. This coming from the publication that gave Papa Roach 4 stars.

Well, on Saturday I did discover one band that may change that. Fire Escape Films hosted the event Synesthesia, which put student films on the backdrop of some of the University's best rock bands. The featured band was U of C rock staple The Goddamn Shame, who had the unfortunate problem of trying to banter with the crowd with a guy fellating a toothbrush in the background. But the band that stuck out to me the most was The Cathy Santonies, a band of two girls and a guy who have been performing together for only a year and a half, but sounded like goddamn pros. They played a nice mix of riott girl and balls out punk rock, and sounded like Bikini Kill, X, and Le Tigre (bassist Radio Santoni donned a Le Tigre shirt during the performance). They seemed a bit unsure of themselves performing, but if they keep playing like that, they'll get more comfortable much more quickly.

The Cathy Santonies' next performance is on July 29th at the Beat Kitchen.

*I'm by no means the only critic whose interest the Cathy Santonies have perked. Jim DeRogatis likes them enough to write about them for the Chicago Sun-Times. They've also opened for DeRo's own band Vortis several times.

Labels: cathy santonies, indie rock, jim derogatis, pitchfork music festival, university of chicago

Back in March, I posted on the effect known as "the Whammy"—that utter loss of words and coherency you get when you meet someone who you deeply admire. At the time, I noted that "If I am going to make it as a journalist, I have to get over the whammy" and doubted if I ever would. Now, 7 months later, I can report that if I'm not completely over the Whammy, I've at least made enough progress where I can overcome it to an acceptable level.

In the past two days, I have talked to two people I deeply admire who have a significant influence on my recent life in terms of what I do and how I do it. When I returned to New York after graduation, I was hesitant to pursue theater criticism actively, and needed some motivation and direction. Then I saw Mike Daisey's How Theater Failed America, which was all the inspiration I needed to make my decision. Earlier this night, after attending a press preview of Daisey's new show, If You See Something, Say Something, I made a point to introduce myself to him, after corresponding with him briefly on the internet previously.

Yesterday, I spent 20 minutes on the phone with Jim DeRogatis. Between his biography of Lester Bangs Let it Blurt, his definitive 90s alternative rock collection Milk It!, and his continuing vital work at the Chicago Sun-Times, DeRogatis has been one of my prime spiritual inspirations in music criticism ever since I began seriously pursuing the path. We talked about Lester Bangs, Pitchfork, and the spirit of rock criticism, and I not only found him to be as personable in conversation as in writing, but with views that corresponded so perfectly with my own.

I still had a bit of the whammy in both cases. I was still somewhat awkward, with more ideas in mind than I knew how to articulate, and in both cases a little nervous to present myself. But in both cases I initiated the conversation, and in both cases I was glad I did afterwards. Most importantly, however, in each case I was myself, and not afraid to be that. I didn't worry about being some pipsqueak fan/wannabe, nor was I in awe of this person's imagined aura. This is significant progress over even a few months ago, when I must have been the first "journalist" ever to weird out Gibby freaking Haynes out of my awkwardness. There are a handful of musicians, actors, and other celebs who due to previous interviews or interactions I would be too ashamed to show my face to. But they're becoming fewer and farther in between. And that's progress on the Whammy front.

Labels: gibby haynes, jim derogatis, mike daisey, neurosis, self-absorption, the whammy